Written on January 18, 2012 at 10:46 am by Jennifer Brown

Southwest Airlines Phishing Scam

Filed under Blog Maintenance, News, Scams {no comments}

Photo: devilsworkshop.org

Don’t Get Scammed

Southwest Airlines is one of the latest bait used in a phishing scam that has been going viral and causing all kinds of headaches for people who fell for the incredible offers. This latest phishing scam has been making the rounds since November of last year.

The email is short and to the point:

OMG, Southwest Airline Corporation is handing out 100% free gifts. Hurry fast, Do not wait a minute. Heres the webpage - Southwest Promo (link disabled) There are only 39 more.

This scam has morphed somewhat from it’s original incarnation where if you linked to a fictitious link on your Facebook page and asked all your friends to do the same, you would get two free tickets after filling out a form that required and email address and phone number to participate.

What to do if you fall for the bait

Brooks Thomas, Southwest spokesman, suggests that anyone who falls for this kind of scam to uninstall any program that they may have downloaded, and to change their Facebook passwords. And remember to utilize your virus scanning software that comes with most PCs. If you don’t have virus protection on your PC take a moment to install it today.

Phishing is big business

The official word for these kinds of scams is Phishing, and it’s a growing problem costing Americans billions of dollars each year. Often, these predators set up shop overseas, making it difficult for companies and law enforcement to track them down. While many phishing scams are simply annoying some convince users to install dangerous software that can give thieves access to checking and credit card accounts.

Use common sense when opening emails

Often it is easy to spot the scammers emails due to the senders email address or name. In the last week I have received emails from both a Mr. Smokeweed and Ms. Huneyhumps. Clearly these two have not taken Phishing Scammers 101 yet or they would have never made such a mistake.

As always, if you hear of any phishing scams please let me know.

While Southwest Airlines always has some kind of discount available to its customers it never gives away free tickets.