The Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Cybercrime Department is warning people to be on the alert for a scam on social media related to winning Coca-Cola prizes.

Anti-Cybercrime Department director Chea Pov said there had been an increase in the number of messages received concerning the Coca-Cola Welfare Fund on Telegram and Facebook with the content “Click to participate in the survey and a chance to win 200,000 riel”.

“Social media users are asked to ignore this type of message as it is a scam. Do not click any links or share any information through the message as it is a waste of time and money,” Pov said.

Pov stated that the department’s research has revealed that these “deceptive messages” are used to spread viruses, collect user data and locate users.

“Sometimes they employ deception to convince users to pay a small fee to gain your trust, but it is a way to steal money or take credit card numbers,” he said.

Digital Security Consultant Nget Mose said he had tested what the scammers sent on social media. The results proved the messages are fraudulent and aim to take advantage of users. He said scammers used the Coca-Cola brand name then placed it in posters on social media.

“Unscrupulous individuals who create these scams intend them to be widely distributed around the world. So, victims can be in our country or in another country,” he said.

According to Mose, laptop computer users can fill out a form as instructed by scammers, while mobile device users may need to download an application.

He said that uncovering the people behind scams is difficult because tracking the IP address is not easy.

“I do not know where the criminals are, but the link I see is an IP address in the United States. But that does not mean the criminals are in the US even though the domain name is hosted in the US,” he said.