WA McDonald's customers hit by email scam
Issue Date: - Friday, 5 June 2009
Criminals are using the McDonald’s brand in attempts to scam Western Australian consumers out of money. And it appears to be working.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll said today one local consumer had reported he’d been taken in by the scam, and lost $1,300 from his credit card.
Ms Driscoll said the scam email purported to be from the McDonald’s food chain, and asked consumers to take part in a customer satisfaction survey on what turns out to be a bogus McDonald’s website.
“The scammer offers a bonus payment for taking the quick seven question survey. The survey is followed by a request for the consumer to enter their credit carddetails, including the card verification number,” the Commissioner said.
“Unfortunately, it is this number – found on the reverse of the card – that enables the scammer to debit money from the account, rather than transferring the bonus payment to it” Ms Driscoll said.
“There are tell tale signs that the survey is not legitimate. The website is not associated with any official McDonald’s site. It is piggybacked onto another business website, usually without their knowledge.
“There are also numerous spelling errors throughout the survey, and images are fuzzy and appear to be copied,” Ms Driscoll said.
“Basically, the scammers use this bogus McDonald’s survey to gain personal information from recipients of the emails.”
The Commissioner said the survey also asked consumers to send a copy of their identification if they wished to be entered into a secondary draw to win free food from the restaurant chain.
“This information could be used for identity theft,” Ms Driscoll cautioned.
“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a ScamWatch alert about these emails, and McDonald’s has placed a warning on both its Australian website and its global website,” she said.
“Our own WA ScamNet is also warning Western Australian consumers to be on the alert for this scam,” Ms Driscoll said.
“McDonald’s Australia is not alone in having their name used by scammers. This type of scam is associated with other well known business names around the world.
“Consumers should always be very wary whenever they are asked to provide financial or identity details, particularly in unsolicited emails,” the Commissioner said.