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Fake Amazon, Walmart, PlayStation gift card offers pay nothing and may add subscriptions

From the HARD Situation Room · First reported
For everything else happening in security now, see the Situation Room.

Fake reward sites in this campaign promise a gift card, then demand surveys, installs or paid subscriptions. Don't enter a phone number or code. If you already did, ask your carrier to check for subscriptions. Security firm CTM360 says it found more than 1,000 incidents using reward portals with countdown timers, 'winner' testimonials and invented celebrity endorsements, including MrBeast and Alix Earle. After you pick a card value, the site shows a partly hidden code, then a 'Security Check' blocks the rest. The check sends you through surveys, offers, app or browser-extension installs and mobile subscriptions billed through your phone carrier. CTM360 reports that no reward was delivered in any flow it tested. The operators earn affiliate commissions when a visitor submits a phone number and enters a one-time code. The report comes from CTM360, a security vendor, and was published on BleepingComputer as sponsored content.

Current event. First reported . Details may change as more becomes known; updates will be added to the timeline.

Timeline

  1. HARD publishes its alert, at Watch.

What to do

  1. Don't enter a phone number or a text-message code on a reward site like this.
  2. Get gift cards only from the retailer's own app or site.
  3. If a family member already did, check the phone bill for unfamiliar subscriptions and ask the carrier to cancel and block third-party billing, remove any app or browser extension they installed, and watch for more spam texts.
  4. Tell teenagers and grandparents in particular: a free card that asks for surveys, installs or a phone number to 'verify' matches this campaign.

References

Situation Room articles are updated as events develop: updates are added to the timeline, and never edited away. Follow them by email or RSS.