Original article (in BCS) was published on 16/11/2023; Author: Marija Manojlović
On several occasions, a Facebook page misusing the Sarajevo airport logo posted an ad to promote the sale of supposedly lost luggage at the airport. This is a scam that could lead to the theft of personal information and unnecessary financial losses.
On November 13, 2023, an ad was published on the Facebook page of Sarajevo Airport, stating the following:
Because our warehouse at the airport is overcrowded, we are forced to sell lost luggage that we have had for more than 6 months!
The price is 1 euro per suitcase ❗️
Delivery throughout the country 🔥
Quantity is limited! To order, click on the button in the ad 👇🏻
On November 13, on that same Facebook page, three more posts were made peddling lost luggage for sale (1, 2, 3). In all these posts, clicking the “buy now” option takes you to a page that cleverly mimics the look of the Sarajevo International Airport page for some Facebook users (archive).
The page is in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian. Once on this page, users are initially prompted to fill out a survey with several questions. Following that, they’re directed to pick from the provided packages and, finally, complete a form with personal information to supposedly finalize the “purchase.”
At the bottom of the form where personal information is requested and where a payment of one euro is made for “lost luggage,” there’s some fine print in small gray letters in English:
“By using the trial period, you will subscribe to the monitorbuilder.com service for two days at the price specified in this promotion, and after two days, if you do not cancel your order, you will be charged a premium account at 49.99 euros every 30 days.
What are the facts?
Several red flags on the Sarajevo Airport Facebook page suggest that it’s not the official page of Sarajevo Airport.
While the page boasts nearly 5,000 followers, the oldest visible post dates back to November 13. The content is focused solely on advertising lost luggage for sale.
Digging deeper, we find that the page has undergone several name changes since its creation in 2017. Originally dubbed New.Movies, it most recently switched to Sarajevo Airport on November 13.
The site is managed by a single individual – based in the Philippines.
Comments on posts advertising the sale of lost luggage also indicate that we are dealing with fake ads. Most of the comments in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian were written by profile owners with foreign-sounding names. These profiles were mostly made in October of this year.
The real Facebook page of the Sarajevo airport is called Sarajevo International Airport and is followed by 16,000 users. It was created in 2012 and is managed by several people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Content related to airport activities is regularly published on the site.
In contrast, the genuine Facebook page for Sarajevo Airport is identified as Sarajevo International Airport, with a following of 16,000 users. Established in 2012, this page is administered by a team of individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Regular updates related to airport activities are consistently shared on the profile.
On November 14, a screenshot of a lost luggage sale ad was posted on this page with a warning identifying it as a fake ad and a fake page.
❗❗❗CAUTION – FAKE ADVERTISEMENT ❗❗❗
We inform our valued passengers and users of our services that this is a fake ad announcing the sale of luggage from the Lost and Found Department.
Please note that this is a fake page – Sarajevo Airport, which has been reported to Facebook, and we ask you to be especially careful until it is removed.
Sarajevo International Airport only uses this page to communicate with its users.
MonitorBuilder is described as an “online application for easy creation of small/medium websites, landing pages, online biographies and portfolios, promotional sites for applications, events, services and products,” as per the application’s official page. Based on online reviews and assessments of website security, available information indicates that this site holds a low level of trust (1, 2).
As a consequence, individuals who fall prey to an online scam and attempt to purchase lost luggage for a mere euro not only won’t receive the promised luggagebut will share their personal information such as e-mail address and password. At the same time, they unwittingly subscribe to a service that, according to the information on the site, costs about 100 BAM per month.
Fake Facebook pages and profiles are used for various online scams, which Raskrinkavanje has covered on several occasions in recent years (1, 2, 3). On the one hand, their purpose can be to amass “likes”, but sometimes also to steal personal data, including financial data. In earlier analyses, Raskrinkavanje explained in detail how to recognize fake Facebook pages, as well as the procedure for registering them via computer and mobile phone.
Accordingly, posts on the Sarajevo Airport Facebook page advertising the “sale of lost luggage” at one euro per suitcase are rated as fake news.
