Did Allegiant AIrlines celebrate its 23th birthday by providing two free tickets to everyone? No, that's not true: It is a click bait scam that could result in your computer and personal data being compromised, and it certainly will not result in you getting a free trip on Allegiant.
This scam has been circulating through social platforms and most recently in a post (archived here) under the title "Allegiant Airlines celebrates their 23rd Birthday by providing 2 free tickets to all ". It opened:
Congratulations!
We are giving away Free Allegiant Airlines Tickets to celebrate our birthday! We only have 332 Tickets remaining so hurry up!
This is what the scam post looks like on social media:
When you click on the post, you are taken to a site that offers the free tickets if you answer survey questions. Do not do this. It may open up your computer or smart device to viruses that could steal you personal information. You will not get free tickets.
The site is part of a larger network of scam websites that all operate in the same manner. First three questions are asked, typically asking if you are satisified with some brand, if you have used their product or if you would recommend it to others. Three possible answers are offered each time "Yes", "No" or "Don't remember".
No matter what answers are given, visitors are redirected to a screen that looks like this, inviting them to share and like the page on Facebook to claim the prize:
The comment form at the bottom is also fake: comments are automatically appearing but they do not come from real people, the whole thing is scripted: if the page is reloaded the same comments start appearing again. Clicking the share button does bring up a real share popup from Facebook but it does not share the exact URL of the page: it varies the random-looking string of letters and numbers at the end so that to Facebook it will look like a new and different article that is being shared. This makes it harder to detect and do something about it because each individual link needs to be individually reported and taken down.
Clicking the like button takes people through a series of redirects via various pages, probably depending on which ads or scams the people behind the site need to promote at the time. But no prize will show up at your door in the end.
The scammers behind the site regularily launch new sites targeting different brands and businesses but they all look similar. arlier versions we spotted were aimed at Dunkin' Donuts, JetBlue, Starbucks, Costco, Little Caesars, Alaska Airline and Delta Airlines.
