Caution: Milka sweepstakes on Whatsapp are scams

At Easter, online fraudsters are increasingly targeting users on Whatsapp & Co. with fake sweepstakes. The well-known brand name “Milka” is also misused. Messages are forwarded via Whatsapp, according to which Milka is giving away free Easter gift baskets.

The Milka company Mondelez is currently warning on the Milka website and in a message that these are bogus Milka sweepstakes. Specifically, Mondelez’s warning says: “These are click baits that lead to a sweepstakes” and adds:

“These promotions are not from our company. Our Milka brand is not related to these sweepstakes. Their only purpose is to receive personal data in order to contact the participants afterwards.”

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This is what a variant of the fake Milka sweepstakes that is distributed via Whatsapp looks like

© Mimikama.at

This is what the fake Milka competition looks like

The security portal Mimikama has published a screenshot of the fake Milka sweepstakes distributed via Whatsapp. Accordingly, the Whatsapp message that users receive is as follows (including the spelling mistakes):

“Free Easter gift baskets from Milkas – 5,000 free gifts for you milka.de”

Once the user taps the link, they land on a Russian website that looks like the Milka website. There you should answer simple questions and will be asked to forward the received Whatsapp message to your own contacts. A gift is given as a reward.

In fact, of course, there are no delicious Milka products to be won, but the scammers are only concerned with getting the personal data of the users and ensuring that the fake competition is distributed. It cannot be ruled out that there are also variants of the fake Milka sweepstakes sites that attempt to install malware on the computers or sell users expensive subscriptions.

How to recognize real Milka sweepstakes

Mondelez also takes the opportunity to emphasize that Milka sweepstakes are offered exclusively on the official websites and official social media channels. And always with the associated conditions of participation, an imprint and data protection regulations.

The companies responsible for the campaign were always specifically named, such as “Mondelez Germany Services GmbH & Co KG” or “Mondelez Europe Services GmbH – Austrian branch”. The recommendation for consumers is:

“If the sender is not MONDELEZ, if the information is unclear or missing, we clearly advise against submitting personal data!”

Hunt for sweet tooth abroad – inspired by offline scam in 2006

Milka’s good name is likely to be misused by online fraudsters, especially in German-speaking countries. But there are similar examples from abroad.

Our British colleagues from Techadvisor.com, for example, recently reported on fake Easter sweepstakes that are distributed via Whatsapp and affect the manufacturer Cadbury, which is well-known in the UK. Again, it’s about “Easter” and alleged chances of winning “free Easter baskets with Cadbury chocolate”.

Such attacks also take place in Great Britain every year. The origin is interesting:

An alleged group of market researchers questioned passers-by in front of London train station in Victoria shortly before Easter in 2006. In return for filling out a form with lots and lots of personal information, passers-by were offered a basket full of chocolates. More than 80 percent of those surveyed accepted the offer, giving the scammers a lot of information about themselves each time. And this only for chocolate.

Since Whatsapp & Co., scammers no longer have to stand in the street…