Are you a fan of the Rolling Stones? Or do you know someone who might be interested in receiving free tickets for the veteran rockers' sold-out "14 on Fire" world tour?
If so, be very careful if you see a message like the following being shared on Facebook.
Rolling Stones 14 on Fire Free Tickets Giveaway
Get a free ticket and see the Rolling Stones live in your country!
[LINK]
You'd be making a big mistake if you clicked on the link, as you will be taken to a third-party website which strongly encourages you to share the link via social media, and then coerce others into clicking on it.
Because, the website claims, if you manage to get ten people to click on the link you have just shared - you will be in the running for a free ticket to see the Rolling Stones in concert.
Once the system has detected at least 10 clicks through your link code you will get access to the locked area which gives you the possibility to request your free ticket.
It feels to me very unlikely that Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts would be keen to give away free tickets to concerts around the world via Facebook. I mean, it's not as if they would have any trouble *selling* them, right?
Instead, they are telling all-and-sundry to visit the tickets page on the real Rolling Stones website for information.
Furthermore, the Stones' own official Facebook page has mysteriously no mention of the free ticket giveaway taking place on the social network.
I think what is happening here is that someone has grabbed some images and video content from the official Stones website, has bought a Rolling Stones tour-related domain name via GoDaddy, and is playing upon fans' desire to see the wrinkly rockers before they finally fade away and cark it.
As usual, you should never re-share a link on the *promise* of getting something. Normally the scammers are trying to trick you into taking money-earning surveys to prove your age with the promise of showing you a sexy video at the end, but on this occasion they've simply used the name of one of the most famous rock groups of all time.
And, what's crafty in this particular case, is that you cannot see what hoops you are going to have to jump through to earn a ticket (my guess is that some surveys will be involved) before you have had ten people click on your link. And that encourages you to feverishly share it and twist the arms of online friends to click on the link on your behalf.
You should always be wary of offers that seem too good to be true, and think extremely carefully before sharing links on Facebook. There are just too many scams running riot up there.
If you made the mistake of sharing the fake Rolling Stones ticket giveaway on your Facebook newsfeed, make sure to delete it now. And don't forget to tell your friends the truth about the scam - maybe it will protect them in future from similar attacks.
