Thousands of Quebecers have commented and shared the releases of the Toyota Hilux ,Club (sic) page that has been promoting these fraudulent competitions since late December. After commenting on these publications, the site encourages Internet users To on a site that also features the Toyota logo.
This website then redirects the user to another website, RewardsGiantCA, which requires personal information such as name, phone number, date of birth and address. The internet user is then asked to answer surveys in a bid to win gift cards.
According to Decryptors’ observations, many of these surveys lead to pages that ask for credit card information in order to subscribe to various services.
Dozens of reviews (New window) that can be viewed on the consumer review platform Trustpilot indicate that RewardsGiantCA is a scam that does not offer the prices promised. Some of the reviews mention unauthorized credit card transactions.
A fake site managed from Indonesia
Toyota Canada didn’t respond to our interview requests on Friday, but the inauthenticity of the Toyota Hilux Club’s Facebook page is apparent.
According to Facebook’s transparency tools, the only administrator is in Indonesia. The site has changed its name several times since its inception in December 2021: it was initially called Caneelo Alvarrez before changing its name to Santa Live Page in April 2022 and Toyota Hilux, Club in November 2022.
Facebook’s transparency tools show that the Page admin is located in Indonesia.
Photo: Facebook screenshot
Photos of the alleged contest winners on the site have been posted elsewhere on the web, and one even includes an Australian number plate.
In addition, any competition aimed at Quebecers that offers $100 prizes must be registered with the Régie des alcools, des Courses et des Jeux du Quebec (RACJ) and display the rules of the Régie. This is not the case for the competition in question.
The modus operandi of this scam is almost identical to the one that used the Decathlon sports store branding image in September.
