This text message looks legitimate and it’s tempting to click on, but you definitely shouldn’t open it

It looks legitimate and it’s tempting to click on, but this SMS message hides a nasty surprise that will ruin your Christmas.

It looks legitimate and it arrives around the time of year when hopeful Australians tend to enter a lot of competitions.

But opening this text message, which claims you have won a mystery box prize from a major airline, could seriously ruin your Christmas and hammer your finances.

Over the past several weeks, people have received SMS alerts that appear to be directly from Qantas, with the good news that they have “won” a weekly mystery box competition.

Scammers have spoofed the SMS domain of the airline to make the message appear genuine, and it lobs alongside previously sent aboveboard communications from the company.

That could make it mighty tempting to believe, which has authorities worried.

“You’ve won our mystery box this week,” the message reads. “Please use this link to schedule the delivery.”

This scam text appears to be from Qantas from scammers have spoofed its SMS identification domain.

The fake prize is typically an offer of $1500 in travel credit for just $1 and the dodgy website contains glowing reviews from previous “lucky winners”.

Qantas said it is aware of the scam texts and has urged its customers not to follow the URL.

“These messages are not genuine and encourage customers to click on a link which requests personal information,” the airline said.

“Unfortunately scammers can change sender ID names, which makes it confusing for the recipient to recognise when a legitimate message has been sent and when it is a scam.

“These messages — because of the sender ID name — can then be grouped with genuine messages with Qantas.”

Some of those actual messages from Qantas include flight cancellation or delay notifications as well as verification codes for its website account login.

Falling for the latest convincing scam, this one from Qantas, could seriously ruin your Christmas.

Those hoping for unbelievably cheap flights or other big-ticket prizes will be left disappointed, as in this case the mystery box contains some serious nasties.

Scammers could drain your credit card and bank accounts, or personal information handed over may lead to identity theft.

“We will never ask customers to click a link to download a file about bookings from a website, including our own,” Qantas said.

The Federal Government’s Scamwatch advisory said in some cases, victims of travel-related cons could be asked to provide credit card or licence details to validate the “prize”.

“If you hand over your credit card details, the scammer will quickly use these to take money from your bank account,” it warned.

“They may also use your personal details to commit some other form of identity crime.”

Qantas is aware of the scam texts and has urged anyone who receives them to ignore them. Picture: Jenny Evans

A similar Qantas mystery box scam was doing the rounds earlier this year.

Aussies are being urged to take extra precautions, with less than a week until Christmas — a peak period for fraudsters to strike.

A recent criminal effort involved a tidal wave of dodgy phone calls, originating from local numbers, purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office and threatening arrest and prosecution unless overdue tax bills were immediately paid.

Scamwatch urges anyone who has fallen prey to the scam to contact their bank or financial institution right away.

“We encourage you to report scams to the ACCC via the report a scam page,” it said.

“This helps us to warn people about current scams, monitor trends and disrupt scams where possible. Please include details of the scam contact you received, for example, email or screenshot.”