Beware of spam promising freebies
If you get an offer for free gift cards to your favorite spots in your e-mail, here are some things to consider before you click on it.
I've been getting 'free gift card' offers for months now and at first, I just deleted them. Then I decided to see what's up.
I called around and found out these spam offers are not coming from the retailers. They're purchased by the people making the offers. And, as some of you may know, getting the free gift involves a lot more than simply clicking the link.
The free gift cards are for well-know retailers and popular products. I expected to have to fill out a simple form - silly me.
In order to receive my free gift card, I had to fill out a survey starting with my e-mail address, then may name, address and zip code.
I used my birth name, Constance to track any future contacts.
The surveys ask about your interest in all sorts of products and services, and they go on forever.
Experts say legitimate research companies used surveys to help businesses target potential customers.
I had to answer every question or I could not continue.
Eventually some of the questions, turned in to membership offers where I would have to buy something.
I clicked on an offer for free dinner at a restaurant, but to get it, I had to continue with more survey. Each free gift e-mail had the same survey process and they all had this identical disclaimer:
To receive the incentive gift you must register with valid information, complete the survey, complete at least two silver offers, two gold offers, two Platinum offers, refer someone else who must complete the same requirements and purchase may be required.
Cyber security expert Howard Schmidt says while some free-gift surveys are legitimate, many are scams looking for your personal information. And it's hard to tell the difference.
"And even I wind up, in all the years I've been doing this, I just wind up ignoring them," he said. "Because I have problems telling the difference between legitimate ones and the bad ones."
Of the six different survey sources, I could not find background information on a single one. So I have to agree with the expert on this one.
It's unsolicited spam with a free gift that really isn't free, and you don't know who you're dealing with. So it's best to just hit 'delete'.
By the way, since I filled out those surveys with my birth name, Constance has been flooded with more spam and freebie come-ons.
I've been getting 'free gift card' offers for months now and at first, I just deleted them. Then I decided to see what's up.
I called around and found out these spam offers are not coming from the retailers. They're purchased by the people making the offers. And, as some of you may know, getting the free gift involves a lot more than simply clicking the link.
The free gift cards are for well-know retailers and popular products. I expected to have to fill out a simple form - silly me.
In order to receive my free gift card, I had to fill out a survey starting with my e-mail address, then may name, address and zip code.
I used my birth name, Constance to track any future contacts.
The surveys ask about your interest in all sorts of products and services, and they go on forever.
Experts say legitimate research companies used surveys to help businesses target potential customers.
I had to answer every question or I could not continue.
Eventually some of the questions, turned in to membership offers where I would have to buy something.
I clicked on an offer for free dinner at a restaurant, but to get it, I had to continue with more survey. Each free gift e-mail had the same survey process and they all had this identical disclaimer:
To receive the incentive gift you must register with valid information, complete the survey, complete at least two silver offers, two gold offers, two Platinum offers, refer someone else who must complete the same requirements and purchase may be required.
Cyber security expert Howard Schmidt says while some free-gift surveys are legitimate, many are scams looking for your personal information. And it's hard to tell the difference.
"And even I wind up, in all the years I've been doing this, I just wind up ignoring them," he said. "Because I have problems telling the difference between legitimate ones and the bad ones."
Of the six different survey sources, I could not find background information on a single one. So I have to agree with the expert on this one.
It's unsolicited spam with a free gift that really isn't free, and you don't know who you're dealing with. So it's best to just hit 'delete'.
By the way, since I filled out those surveys with my birth name, Constance has been flooded with more spam and freebie come-ons.
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