A marketing campaign from the language teaching app Duolingo is inadvertently phishing users for their credit card numbers.
The marketing stunt involves Duolingo’s account on Twitter/X, which has over 930,000 followers. On Tuesday, the account announced that the app’s owl mascot, Duo, had died under mysterious circumstances.
“Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully. Tbh [to be honest], he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know,” it tweeted.
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Although the message was written as a joke, it contains an eyebrow-raising request about users sharing their reactions on social media: “If you feel inclined to share, please also include your credit card number so we can automatically sign you up for Duolingo Max in his memory.”
Obviously, you shouldn’t post your credit card number on X because everyone can see it. The request made us wonder if Duolingo’s account had been hacked since asking users for their credit card details through well-known brands is a classic phishing tactic. But in an email, the educational company confirmed Duo’s death is part of a marketing campaign.
“Our social team just enjoys a little chaotic humor. Rest assured, we would never actually ask users for their credit card information (unless it was to pay for Duo’s extremely expensive funeral, of course—kidding!),” Duolingo’s PR team said.
Still, it looks like at least a few users actually responded to Duolingo’s tweet with credit card details, including the expiration date and three-number security code. “Here is my dad’s credit card,” one person replied, hopefully in jest.
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(Credit: X/Twitter)
(Credit: X/Twitter)
Duolingo’s tweet has been viewed over 4 million times and counting. Fortunately, it looks like some of the users are replying with made-up payment card details, perhaps well aware that the stunt is a joke. But we’re not so sure about a few others.
In the meantime, Duolingo told PCMag: “Our brand marketing has always been known for its playful and irreverent tone, and this tweet is just another example of that. That said, we always encourage our learners to be mindful of online security and never share sensitive information publicly.”
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
