On March 15, the Facebook page Metromoney shared information about free travel in Tbilisi with a Metromoney card. The post stated that the city administration had introduced an annual travel pass, allowing passengers to use public transport for just GEL 7.09 per year with a Metromoney pass. The post also said that interested individuals needed to follow a provided link to place an order and that only 500 people would be eligible for this special offer.
Information about travel on public transport in Tbilisi using a Metromoney card for GEL 7 per year is spread on a Facebook page created for the purpose of financial fraud. The aim of this page is to collect personal information, including bank card details of the users. In reality, the Tbilisi Transport Company does not offer such a service to passengers.
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What Do We Know About the Metromoney Facebook Page and the Website Indicated in the Post?
The Metromoney Facebook page was created on March 15, 2025. As of March 20, the page has only 67 followers. In the category field, it is labeled as “Travel and transport,” while the page introduction states “Tbilisi Public Transport.”
To appear credible, fake accounts (Marie-Hélène Fournier,Amélie Dupont, Luisa Federico) leave their comments on the post published by the page. These comments create the illusion that people have already used or are eager to use the supposed special offer, encouraging other Facebook users to participate as well.
In reality, these accounts, which have non-Georgian names, steal profile photos from other social media users.
| Marie-Hélène Fournie | Uses photos of a registered user, Janna, from various dating sites (1,2).
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| Amélie Dupont | May be using a photo of Sevil Yilmaz, the author of annegram.com.
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| Luisa Federico | Uses photos of a registered user from a dating site.
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When users visit the link provided in the post, they might believe that the website belongs to the Tbilisi Transport Company, as it uses the company’s logo and colors. To make the site appear more credible, it also includes sections like “About Us,” “Services,” “Purchases,” “Contact,” and “Vacancies.” However, none of these sections are functional. Another sign indicating fraud is the website’s URL:
https://gotereblack.com/bRxgKH7C, which bears no resemblance or connection to the Tbilisi Transport Company.
The announcement on the website is written in Georgian, but it contains errors typical of non-native speakers, suggesting that the text was machine-translated. For example, instead of “Metromoney,” the statement says “Metromoni.” Additionally, it contains a sentence that sounds unnatural: “We will register 500 cards among the residents of Tbilisi.”
To verify that the user is a real person, the site asks the following questions: 1. Do you know Metromoney? 2. Have you used our service? 3. Do you travel frequently? After answering these questions, the users are redirected to the next step, where they must choose one of several gift boxes displayed. On the second attempt, the user becomes “a winner” and is required to enter personal data to receive the GEL 7.09 Metromoney card.
Once the users submit personal information, including name, phone number, city, and postal code, they move to the next step. This next step requires them to enter their bank card details on a fraudulent website.
One of the victims told Myth Detector that after entering the data, GEL 7.09 was deducted from her account, and shortly afterwards, she received an SMS about being charged 39.93 EUR. However, since she did not have enough funds, the transaction failed.
It is also worth noting that the IP address of the website listed in Metromoney’s post is located in California, USA, and the site was created in December 2024.
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What Does the Tbilisi Transport Company Say?
On March 19, the Tbilisi Transport Company responded to the information circulating on social media claiming that passengers could travel for a whole year for GEL 7.09. In a statement posted on social media, the company confirmed that the information about the raffle for a travel card shared on fraudulent pages is false and is likely an online scam. The Tbilisi Transport Company also warned citizens not to participate in such fake raffles.
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