Evidence has emerged that a phishing scam claiming to be from confectionary giant Cadbury may have come from Russia.
The scam message was spread on social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp.
Several people reported receiving messages from their contacts with a link attached to sign up for a "Cadbury FREE Easter Chocolate Basket".
READ MORE: Irish people warned of 'sinister' free Cadbury Easter basket scam circulating on WhatsApp
The message was quickly identified as fraudulent, and people were warned not to follow the link, enter any personal details into the fraudulent site, or share the message with others.
However, further investigation into the scam has uncovered that the offer contained a link to a Russian URL that has since been taken down.
Many now fear that Russia may have access to their personal data as the scam appears to be connected to a data harvesting operation in the country.
Images of the text posted on social media showed a WhatsApp message containing a link to the Russian URL.
A screenshot image of the fraudulent message shows a link containing .ru at the end, equivalent to Irish sites using .ie.
It is not yet known if the scam could be linked to Russian operations in Ukraine, as there has been a rise in scamming activity since the start of the war and an overall surge throughout the past two years.
The scam message is estimated to have been sent to millions of people across Ireland and the UK and became so widespread that Cadbury itself issued a statement clarifying that the message had nothing to do with the company.
It said on Twitter: "We've been made aware of circulating posts on social media claiming to offer consumers a free Easter Chocolate basket.
"We can confirm this hasn't been generated by us & we urge consumers not to interact.
"Your security is our priority & we're currently working to resolve this."
Gardai also warned Irish people not to interact with the message.
Cadbury's has also been the victim of other scams impersonating the company as another hamper scam emerged through a fake Facebook page.
The fraudulent page named "Cadbury AU" published a post on Tuesday, claiming that a Cadbury employee named Becky White was running an Easter promotion.
It reads: "Hello everyone, my name is Becky White, and I'm one of the managers at Cadbury Australia! To celebrate Easter this year, EVERYONE who shares and comments by 11pm March 31st will get one of these Cadbury Hampers delivered to their food on April 10th. Limit 1 per person. Enjoy your free chocolate."
Entrants were encouraged to sign up to an external tracking page and "follow the steps" to "verify" their win.
Cadbury has confirmed the post has nothing to do with them and asked people not to interact with it.
READ MORE: Ireland scams: Gardai join forces with Interpol to take down scam gang who have stolen €18million
READ MORE: Irish citizens could be banned from entering Russia as Putin set to retaliate to sanctions
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