GREAT Western Railway has issued a warning after scammers launched fake pages with the aim of defrauding users on social media.

A number of sponsored adverts advertising a fake ‘railcard’ purporting to offer free rail travel on GWR services for £3 have appeared on Facebook.

The advert, which has appeared on different fake pages all adorned with pictures of the GWR Class 800 series trains and with the company logo reads: “GWR has launched a promotion where all UK residents can get a card for just £3, allowing them to travel for free on all company trains for a year.

“Click the learn more button and answer a few questions to get your card.” Presently, the scam is appearing on multiple pages titled ‘super offer - one year card’ but has appeared under various guises in the past.

After clicking the link, users are taken to a page where they are asked to complete a survey, then ‘unlock prizes’ in a temu style layout before “winning” the GWR railcard.

An example of the scam post.
An example of the scam post. ( )

Upon being told that they have ‘won’ this prize, the user is prompted on another fake page to enter their payment details to ‘pay’ the £3 - which, in addition to the possibility of not receiving the fake rail card, potentially gives scammers information relating to their card information which then could be used for further fraud.

An additional post features edited pictures of people which it purports to be of ‘winners’ who have received their ‘railcard’ from GWR.

As a result Great Western Railway has urged users to be vigilant when using the social media site, with its attempts to get the fake accounts removed apparently falling on deaf ears when reported to Facebook. The company clarified that the posts were scams and had no connection with them.

A spokesperson for Great Western Railway said: “Please continue to be vigilant when using Facebook, as there are a number of fake accounts still operating, which claim to offer very cheap deals on train tickets.

“Unfortunately a number of our customers have been affected by this, and despite reporting these pages, they remain open.”