A new scam seeks to trick people into handing over their bank card details by promising them a “free” Tallinja bus card.
Fraudsters are advertising the con on social media platforms by promising people a “year of complimentary travel”, using a profile that mimics Malta Public Transport branding.
Clicking a link included in the post takes you to a poorly formatted website asking users to complete a brief survey before submitting their personal details and pay a €2.35 “shipping fee” to receive their Tallinja card.
The offer is a scam, designed to trick unsuspecting users into handing over the relatively meagre sum while, at the same time, also divulging their card details.
Scammers can then use those card details to generate fraudulent transactions using online services.
A spokesperson for Malta Public Transport, the country's official bus service operator, confirmed that the post is a scam and said the company has reported the page to Facebook.
Local bus rides are free for all residents holding a Tallinja card.
Cards are issued by Malta Public Transport. Obtaining a card costs €25 plus €2.88 in postage fees.
Spot the scam:
- Check the profile page and look out for odd details. In this case, the page does not capitalise ‘public’ and ‘transport’ and had just 1 follower at the time of publication. The official Malta Public Transport page on Facebook, named Tallinja, has 58,000 followers.
- Check the URL. The website link included in the post takes users to a website with an unusual address. The official Malta Public Transport website is https://www.publictransport.com.mt/.
- Check the website. The website contains obvious spelling errors (“Malata” instead of “Malta”) and only features a single clickable area – the one which takes users to a section where they must input their card details. Genuine websites will always allow you to navigate across them from whichever page you are on.
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