Black Friday is a day away, and as much as you’re scouring the internet for the best deals, you should still practice caution.
It appears retailers aren’t the only targets for industrious scammers. They’re now venturing into the aviation industry.
Low-cost airline FlySafair has issued a cautionary note to all its customers ahead of Black Friday after recent fake Facebook profiles came to their attention.
“It is unfortunate that our drive to open the skies to more people is being taken advantage of, especially during the festive season.
“We would like to ask all our consumers to help us stop these scams by reporting them directly to social media platforms when they see them,” urged Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair.
One example of a scam is a Facebook account going by the name ‘FlySafair: South Africa’s Favourite Low-Cost Airline’, which has been imitating the brand and editing official images to include a six-month free flights special.
The airline is taking the chance to warn consumers to be cautious and verify any sales information they encounter, especially during this time of the year.
“Sadly, our reputation for offering crazy deals might have some customers believing that this one is a possibility and cause them to not look closer at the image,” added Gordon.
The images posted by the fraudulent account may look like the real deal, but at a closer glance, poor Photoshopping and the use of ‘City of Derry airport’ as a location are dead give-aways.
This particular example encourages consumers to click a link to head over to their website, a classic phishing tactic which doesn’t even always require the user to hand over any details, giving malicious groups access to personal information and accounts.
Gordon advised those who come across these fake pages to report them directly on social media platforms.
To report a Facebook page or profile, click on the three-dots icon under the page or profile’s cover picture.
From there, select “Find Support or Report Page/Profile” and follow the on-screen prompts.
To report a post, the same icon is found on the top right of the post, giving you the option to “report post”.
Instagram is much the same. To report a post, click the three dots above the post and select “Report”.