WhatsApp users warned over scam offering free Cadbury chocolate before stealing money and personal information

Message has been around for years, but changes over time

WhatsApp users have been warned over a scam that promises to give you free chocolate – but in fact just steals money and personal information.

The message being sent around on WhatsApp suggests that Cadbury is celebrating its anniversary by giving away a free hamper of chocolate.

All users have to do, it says, is pass on the message and go through a few steps.

But the chocolate will never come – and those steps are intended to cause frustration to users at best, and could lead to them losing money or access to their personal data.

Cadbury chocolate has been used as to lure people into scams for years. As with all such scams – which can use anything from free iPhones to the promise of money from the government – it is presumably because the offer seems enticing enough to be exciting but small enough that it is believable.

While the precise details of what criminals want users to do changes, they tend to revolve around similar principles: that the company is giving away free chocolate as part of the celebration of an anniversary, and that the only way to claim it is to go through a series of steps.

Those steps usually include circulating the scam – which will help explain why it often will come from a trusted contact, and therefore could look legitimate – before going on to be forced to take surveys, download questionable apps onto the phone, or to sign up to expensive text message services.

“Please beware of a phishing scam circulating via WhatsApp that states Cadbury is giving away free chocolate hampers, encourages recipients to take part in a survey and then share the link with ten friends," the company told The Sun, which first reported on the latest iteration of the fake messages.

“This is a scam and not associated with Cadbury. Promotions of this kind will always be announced on Cadbury’s official channels.

"We do not advise fans to take part in the survey, share personal data or share the message within their networks.”