Beer-Drinking Dads Beware: Guinness Father’s Day Scam Circulates
Dublin’s Famous Guinness Brewery flanked by police. (Photo credit : Julien Behal/PA Wire)
It’s a gift that no dad would want: a Guinness Scam has been circulating throughout the U.K. on WhatsApp asking unwitting participants for personal information in exchange for false promises of a fridge of beer for Father’s Day, according to the Daily Mirror.
The promotional scam has run rampant on the platform, and a spokesperson from Diageo warned the public:
“We would advise anyone who has received this message not to open the link and delete it immediately.”
The Guinness scam poses as a “competition,” which comes through a WhatsApp message with a link. Participants who click the link are redirected to a Guinness-branded website offering a quiz.
Victims are then asked to check off boxes for the promise of a “golden ticket” before being told they’ve won. According to an article in The Daily Mirror, the company Which? found that the domain was registered in Iceland.
Once the quiz is completed, victims are asked for personal information including delivery and billing addresses for the “delivery of the fridge,” according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Victims of the scam were promised a full fridge of beer and tricked into providing personal information. (Photo by: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via AP Images)
The scam puts pressure on participants to act quickly, which is a common tactic scammers use on their victims. It then asks victims to share the link with 20 friends, which explains its recent virality.
According to an article in The Daily Mail, one user “felt guilty” for putting his friends at risk.
“I felt like a grandparent being duped by this,” he lamented.
The whiskey world is no stranger to schemes and scams, which usually involve counterfeit replicas of high-end bourbons and scotches designed to trick collectors into parting with their cash.
In early May, police raided an illegal bottling plant near Moscow producing fake Johnnie Walker Scotch that was unsafe to drink and could have potentially led to death.
Follow The Daily Pour:
About The Daily Pour
Founded by Dan Abrams, The Daily Pour is the ultimate drinking guide for the modern consumer, covering spirits, non-alcoholic and hemp beverages. With its unique combination of cross-category coverage and signature rating system that aggregates reviews from trusted critics across the internet, The Daily Pour sets the standard as the leading authority in helping consumers discover, compare and enjoy the best of today's evolving drinks landscape.
