Aer Lingus and Ryanair have issued warnings to Irish customers over false, unverified promotions that are being sent through the popular messaging app, WhatsApp.
Members of the public have been contacted by what appears to be an official website from airlines like Aer Lingus offering an exclusive deal for flights but it is simply a ploy to gather personal information and data.
Since the scandal broke, the companies have been urging customers and the general public to be cautious of all messages entering their emails and social media that appears to be from the airline’s website.
The Aer Lingus Facebook page addressed this issue and told their customers to not believe the deals that have been lurking around on the internet.
‘We’re aware of an on line scam offering free Aer Lingus tickets. This is NOT an official Aer Lingus promotion,’ stated the Facebook post referring to the false promotion of free airline tickets for Aer Lingus’ 80th anniversary.
‘For your own information security, please don’t click on any posts in your Newsfeed similar to this one.’
Likewise, Ryanair has published a statement on their Twitter account calling out such fake messages, ‘please beware of a fake WhatsApp promotion offering free Ryanair tickets. Ryanair is not active on WhatsApp and the only place to win Ryanair flights is on our official Facebook and Twitter accounts, both of which have the ‘blue tick’ verification.’
As the world becomes more tech savvy- so do internet scammers. It is important to be vigilant when coming into direct contact with promotions or prizes that may be too good to be true. When in doubt contact the company directly for verification and never hand over vital information unless you are certain of the websites legitimacy.
