Rossmann 2,000 zloty coupon scam spreads on WhatsApp

How does the Rossmann coupon scam work?

The link opens a page with four trivial questions. Then you pick from nine boxes. The first attempt always fails, the second always wins. To claim the prize, you are told to share the lottery with 20 friends or in 5 WhatsApp or Messenger groups.

There is a progress bar that fills as you tap the share buttons. CERT's researchers found that it fills even if you only paste the message and never actually send it. Either way, the voucher doesn't exist.

What do the scammers want?

After the sharing step comes a "verification". You enter your phone number and get bounced to your phone's default messaging app, where you're pushed to send two SMS messages costing 30 zloty each. That money goes straight to the fraudsters.

Then comes the card. The page asks for your payment card details to sign you up for a subscription at 12.30 zloty a week, with the first day supposedly free. With those details, criminals can reach the money in your account. If your bank's fraud systems don't react in time, the account could be emptied.

So instead of 2,000 zloty you lose at least several dozen, and at worst hundreds or thousands.

The chain format is what makes it spread. If one person sends it to 20 people and each of them forwards it to 20 more, the scam reaches 400 people very quickly. That is also why the message arrives from someone you know, which makes it look trustworthy.