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Johannesburg - Scam emails and text messages that try to trick consumers into thinking that they have won a UK Coca-Cola lottery draw has Fin24 users annoyed.
On Thursday, Fin24 reported that a Western Cape man lost over R119 000 after falling victim to UK Coca-Cola lottery phishing scam.
READ MORE: Man loses R119k in Coca-Cola phishing scam
His loss was disclosed by PenBev, which distributes Coca-Cola’s products in the Western and Northern Cape.
PenBev is urging consumers to be on the look out for this text message and email scam and to notify authorities or Coca-Cola South Africa’s consumer affairs department.
But the Western Cape man’s encounter with phishing scam artists has prompted Fin24 users to tell of their experiences with the fraudsters.
One anonymous Fin24 user explained their encounter with the Coca-Cola UK lottery scam.
“Last year I was informed by Coca-Cola UK that I had won R1 000 000 in their lottery. It looked all very professional, and had a picture of the man organising the payout plus cellphone. They needed proof of identity which I sent them. Then the picture changed to a firm in India that was to send the money to me. The cellphone also changed to a number that does not indicate the country from which it was sent. Sure enough, they then wanted money to process the payout. Being an old age pensioner, I could not comply, so I stopped the process right there. I have never heard from them again, and I also made sure that they had no banking details of mine,” said the Fin24 user.
Other Fin24 users have explained how they regularly receive numerous text messages allegedly linked to the Coca-Cola phishing scam.
“Yes, I did receive four messages saying I have won money in a UK Coca-Cola lottery draw. I obviously did not respond because I did not participate in a UK Coca-Cola lottery,” wrote Fin24 user Anthony.
Meanwhile, other Fin24 users say that fraudsters don’t only illegally lean on the Coca-Cola brand for phishing scams in South Africa.
“I get these SMS messages every day: Coca-Cola ... to name a few. Prize money ‘ranges from R95 000 to R3m’,” wrote Fin24 user Cobus.
“I would like to know why I had to go through all the trouble a few years back to RICA (The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act) for my cell phone,” Cobus said.
Another anonymous Fin24 user also said that scam ‘competition’ phishing attacks are out of control.
“It is not only Coca-Cola ... I've got a few from various 'big brands'. in today's tough times we're all on the lookout for some much-needed extra cash, so we fall prey to these scams ... but I've never responded to these things, we need to value our personal data as much as we value the money in our pocket, because that's how these crooks value our data!”
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