EasyJet issues warning over ‘free flights’ internet scam

The low-cost airline is aware of the fake ticket giveaway, which has gone viral on Facebook

The sounds were recorded on a flight from Gatwick to Nice (Getty)

EasyJet is warning Facebook users not to be taken in by a “free flights” scam that has gone viral on the social media platform.

The scam claims to offer two free tickets to everyone that participates in an online survey, in celebration of the airline’s 22nd anniversary.

When users click on the link, they are taken to a malware site that asks for their Facebook details. The scam has rapidly spread as it stipulates that users must share the post in order to claim their free tickets. The post said there were just “332 remaining so hurry up!”

An EasyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet is aware of this fake Facebook competition and can confirm this is not a genuine EasyJet ticket giveaway. We posted on our own Facebook page earlier this week to warn customers of this.

“Genuine competitions of this nature will only be hosted on EasyJet’s official Facebook page.

“There are a number of posts of this nature currently mentioning a number of airlines and we encourage customers to flag these to us so we can work to get them removed.”

EasyJet said on its Facebook page: “We've been made aware of scam competition on Facebook. Please ignore this, as it’s not official. Only follow this account for updates, competitions and offers.”

The fake post had the EasyJet logo at the top with the word “generation” above it, and has a survey of three multiple choice questions, starting with, “Have you ever travelled with us?”

The fake post claimed there were only 332 tickets left (EasyJet/Facebook) (Easyjet/Facebook)

Selina Cooper commented on the official EasyJet post: “I didn't look at the questionnaire. I was just so excited that there might be a chance for free flights to Egypt. In the university of life we will always make mistakes.”

Facebook user Stuart Taylor, meanwhile, gave some sage advice: “Simple rule, if it sounds too good to be true it often is. Very easy to check if these are scams by looking more into the history of the page, for example when it was created, previous posts etc. If it’s a new profile and one of only a few posts for a globally recognised airline then yes, scam page.”

A similar scam did the rounds last week, offering “free flights” with Ryanair in celebration of the airline’s 32nd anniversary – in reality the company is only 23 years old.

“Warning, don't be fooled by this scam page,” Ryanair posted on its Facebook page. “This is not an official Ryanair account or promotion.

“Remember, if it doesn’t have the ‘blue tick’ verification, it’s not the official Ryanair account.”