Survey scams are a creative way to steal your identity or money. Many survey scams offer a reward with a limited time for response. A legitimate survey will not use an urgent time limit, nor will they ask for your credit card or bank account information to pay for a reward. A “real” survey will ask for ratings of various functions and then request an email address at the end. But again, if you provide an email address, you are likely to be put on a spam email list at the very least.
If you have never done business with a company that is pushing the survey, stay away. Even if it’s your favorite store, it’s still best to let it pass. It’s of no benefit to you.
Remember, when something is free it means that you are the “product”. Nobody does something for nothing.
There are also surveys about COVID19. Scammers know people have received COVID-19 vaccines and are capitalizing on it. Fake surveys can be used in many dishonest ways: to steal your information, collect data about you to commit identity theft, or even install malware on your computer when you click on a link in your email. Don’t let them trick you into providing your sensitive information.
If you receive a survey offer by text, DO NOT click on anything in that text message.
Walgreens is running kind of survey sweepstakes, but it involves mailing in a small piece of paper, and it’s really not worth the postage or your time.
As a side note, I received a spam phone call telling me to “stand by for a call from Publisher’s Clearing House! You have won a prize!” How did I know it was a fake? Because I haven’t entered that sweepstakes since 1992. And then, I used a fake/alias email address.
