The competition scam is not just limited to social media, but is also brazenly sent via SMS.
It's almost "old school" to send SMS, but even here, fraudsters still try to get hold of users' data.
Note: Mediamarkt has no connection with this fake competition.
We received the following request with this SMS:

Congratulations…!
Our postcode draw result is known today.
You are one of the 5 lucky buyers! >>…
Happy buyer?
Apart from the fact that the text of the SMS is not entirely understandable, it at least suggests that there is something to get. So let's take a closer look.
If you follow the link provided, you will reach the following page:

Right at the beginning you can type in your zip code. In the next step we are further delayed, after all we are already qualified to win a cell phone.

If you continue to participate, a Samsung Galaxy S9 will now be reserved for us.

So of course we want to claim our winnings. The ridiculous shipping costs of 1 euro do not make us suspicious, nor should 1 euro stand in the way of us enjoying this prize.

Data collector!
Almost without realizing it, we are redirected to another page. Here we should enter our data. A clear case of data collection.
Such “competition organizers” use well-known companies and branded products as decoys.
If you take part in such competitions, you pay with your personal data. There is no real profit. Data protection regulations, competition participation regulations, let alone an imprint, are searched in vain on the site.
At the end you will be rewarded with an “additional profit” in the form of numerous pop-up advertisements on your smartphone in addition to other dubious offers on the internet!
The data is entered into a database and the respective participant can then receive advertising emails, advertising calls and much more. "be happy". In most cases, such user data is also resold. Such a data set can then earn the seller a few euros.
Lead generator
We have often found EXACTLY THIS method, just with other vouchers as bait. In addition to Proleagion, other lead generators also collect data - much to the annoyance of the companies used as decoys. So far we have mostly noticed Proleagion, adpublisher, red lemon media GmbH, Lead Spot Media, 7sections GmbH and Planet49.
The user is promised and led to believe something that is not true at all. The status post gives the user the impression that they could win cars, sweets, gift cards or, in other cases, airline tickets, but that is not the case. STAYS AWAY from such “competitions”! Nobody has anything to give away.
Additional information about bait competitions:
Bait competition means that you are promised a great prize, e.g. 4 free tickets for 300 families for Heide Park, but in the end you are only linked to corresponding commission programs.
Overall, one can say that WhatsApp users are being unknowingly tricked by their own friends, because these pre-formulated messages exploit the relationship of trust between two people by suggesting that the message was written personally by the acquaintance and is therefore considered credible by the recipient is classified.
These WhatsApp messages contain a constructed web address that does not belong to the alleged company. It should be mentioned at this point: Well-known companies have no connection with these bait competitions and have absolutely nothing to do with any commission programs that may be linked!
Identical process!
Since all of these competitions are identical (whether Knoppers, Adidas or Haribo are mentioned), we will repeat the explanation of how they work here:
What's happening here!
You will receive the message shown above from a contact via WhatsApp! This message is the so-called competition bait. This bait creates a promise of winning and suggests that you basically already have the winnings in your pocket. The fraudsters lure people with the ease of participation and lure them to a website. The bait is the viral entry into the competition process. As soon as you follow the link, a website opens on your smartphone.
This website appears to be a supposed competition with a question and answer session. It is only intended to simulate the character of a competition. We also call this step the bridge . The bridge takes the form of a fake competition. In this bridge, you are usually promised a win directly, deception is used and fake elements are used.
Ultimately, this bridge is also an illegal component because the promises made are not kept and the structure and presentation use protected graphic elements. The corporate design of existing companies and their products are mercilessly exploited; on the bridge people also like to pretend to be the company depicted. Goal of the bridge:
a) Generate virality (example: forward this competition to 20 contacts).
b) A link is installed that should lead to the supposed prize.
By the way, you will also be asked to send this fake competition to several contacts on WhatsApp.
And this is how it all ends:
In the third and final step you will be linked to a so-called affiliate program. You leave the bridge via a link that contains an affiliate code that belongs to a commission program. This is an affiliate whose content, if possible, correlates with the fake competition running in the bridge. We call this final link the exit.
Note: The exit itself, i.e. the affiliates that are linked to, is not illegal! These are business models in which the respective provider of such programs compensates its sales partners through commissions. These sales partners are recognized by the provider through an identification code, so that every newly registered participant in the affiliate competition can also be assigned to the sales partner.
By the way, the person who designs the bridge freely decides which partner program he uses as an exit. We also often find systems that read the participant's origin and device information and thus direct them specifically to different commission programs. Therefore, you can never say clearly which commission program will ultimately be used; in the worst case, you will end up with dubious WAP billing stories or opaque subscription services.
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1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

