Are You Booked On A Cruise? Beware of the “Cruising Ducks” Scam

What’s the deal with this new “Cruising Ducks” scam?

Hiding and finding small plastic or crocheted “cruise ducks” has become a phenomenon on most major cruise lines and many cruisers now dedicate great expense and time preparing ducks to hide onboard their ship. Sadly, this fun and innocent activity has attracted scammers who are posting to social media (mostly cruise related Facebook and roll-call groups) in an attempt to both pull at the heart strings of well-intentioned cruisers and separate them from their hard-earned dollars.

The scam goes like this, the poster uses a fake Facebook profile to post a message very similar to this one with photos of dozens of adorable ducks, some appearing handmade:

Then they ask anyone who responds to their initial post to “DM” them at which point they’ll ask you to send them a small amount of money to cover shipping the ducks and/or they will ask you for personal information. Alas, there will be no ducks.

If you see a post like this in one of your groups, please warn your fellow cruisers and alert the admin to remove it. It makes me sad and angry to see people taken advantage of in this way, but hopefully we can prevent this scam from spreading further.

Thanks! Happy cruising! And hunting for (legit) ducks!

Class Dismissed.

Homework (10 points): Have you seen this scam (or any others) in any of your cruise groups? Share to the comments.

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