Security News > 2022 > June > Heineken says there’s no free beer, warns of phishing scam

There's no such thing as free beer for Father's Day - at least not from Heineken.

"This is a scam and is not sanctioned by Heineken," the beermaker said in a tweet, adding it has alerted the UK's national fraud and cybercrime reporting agency.

As with earlier years, phishing attacks were by far the most commonly reported crimes in 2021, with 323,972 cases last year.

It's an easy way for fraudsters to make a quick buck because people like free stuff, said Ian McShane, VP of strategy at Arctic Wolf.

"The Father's Day scam doing the rounds on WhatsApp purporting to be from Heineken is a not-so-subtle illustration of how cybercriminals prey on consumer greed and love for a freebie," he told The Register.

"The trouble is that often there is no such thing as a free beer and although by now we should all be wary enough about giving our personal details to strangers online, with people hoping for a quick buck and freebies, it's all too easy to be sucked into a scam."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/heineken_phishing_scam/