Everyone likes to have money, be it permanently or just a large one-off payment. There is currently a text that is being distributed via WhatsApp and informs about a one-off payment for VW employees.
The information supposedly comes from the “Salzgitter Zeitung”. For example, the message reads:
SALZGITTER ZEITUNG
Volkswagen AG employees will be rewarded with a one-time bonus of €3,500 see
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/ […]
The amounts can vary, we were also sent a version with 1500 €.
All clear!
We can give the all-clear at this point: it is neither phishing nor a Trojan, virus or other malware.
This is a genuine “hoax” in the form of a WhatsApp chain letter, which has now also been spotted in Facebook groups used by users from the Wolfsburg area.
Of course, there is no information from the Salzgitter Zeitung behind the Blogspot link, but rather the solution to the whole joke: a fun pic.
Parallels
This type of hoax is reminiscent of a few very similar WhatsApp messages that were sent around schools that were closed (allegedly due to terror warnings):
Tagesschau – IS threatens massive terrorist attacks against European schools. Large parts of German schools will also remain closed in the coming days. Here is a list of the affected schools:
This wasn't meant seriously either and clicking on the link revealed that there was no list of affected schools. The Tagesschau never sent such a warning. The news about closed schools only tries to get the reader to click on the link, with the result that this is not a real warning, because the following image appeared (instead of a “list”) to the visitor:
Notes:
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