Don't fall for this WhatsApp Women's Day scam

A WhatsApp message with an offer for free Adidas shoes is doing the rounds. Don't fall for it, it's a scam.

WhatsApp (Bloomberg)

WhatsApp is the go-to messaging app for users globally. This also makes the app vulnerable to scams that often manage to trick users. The latest WhatsApp scam is on an offer by Adidas for women on the occasion of International Women's Day.

A WhatsApp message with a link saying “Adidas Women's Day gift” is being circulated on the app. The message claims to be an offer from Adidas giving away 1 million pairs of shoes for Women's Day. First spotted by BGR India, the link itself looks suspicious given the nature of the message. There are also some other things to notice such as the URL which misspelled the word “Adidas” as “Adidass”.

Tapping the link opens to a new page with the messages, “Congratulations! You have a chance to get free shoes provided by adidas for Women's Day.” There's also a picture of a pair of Adidas shoes on the page. On top, the Adidas logo is visible with buttons for the menu, search tool, and shopping bag. But these buttons aren't clickable.

The link itself looks suspicious, and shouldn't be clicked on in the first place. Also, any message or link claiming to offer something for “free” should be avoided at all costs. WhatsApp also labels such messages as “forwarded” or “frequently forwarded” which should serve as a warning. It's best to avoid such suspicious messages, and also avoid sending it to other contacts. This can be an easy way for hackers to dupe users who may fall prey to such tricks and scams.