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in 2021, 35.3% of all reports submitted to BBB Scam Tracker are online purchase scams, the most reported scam type. A significant number of consumers continued to lose money when
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Sep 1, 2021 · Do search online to see if there’s a scam alert on a survey you receive. Some companies post detailed warnings about how to spot scammers who are impersonating them. Do consider installing a call-blocking mobile phone app to screen out unwanted texts from survey spammers.
- Prizes/Sweepstakes/Free Gifts
- Internet: General Merchandise Sales (not auctions)
- Phishing/Spoofing
- Fake Check Scams
- Friendship & Sweetheart Swindles
- Investments
- Advance Fee Loans, Credit Arrangers
- Family / Friend Imposters
- Scholarships/Grants
Requests for payment to claim fictitious prizes, lottery winnings, or gifts
Goods purchased are either never delivered or misrepresented
Emails pretending to be from a well-known source ask consumers to enter or confirm personal information
Consumers paid with phony checks for work or for items they’re trying to sell, instructed to wire money back to buyer
Con artist nurtures an online relationship, builds trust, and convinces victim to send money
Investment opportunities in: day trading; gold and gems; art; rare coins; other investment products; reports about companies that offer advice or seminars on investments; etc.
False promises of business or personal loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee upfront
scammer calls or emails, claiming that a friend or family member is in distress (in jail, in the hospital, etc.) and urgently needs funds to help Computers: Equipment and Software Scammers claim to offer “technical support” for computer problems and charge a fee to fix a nonexistent problem. This category includes tech support scams
Offers of fictitious “guaranteed” scholarship or grant funds in exchange for up-front payment or personal information.
Oct 4, 2022 · Although scammers try their hardest to fool people into sharing their personal information through their phony surveys, there are ways to tell whether a paid survey is legitimate or fake, according to Kaspersky.
- Costco text or letter survey scams. Costco survey scams offer between $50 and $500 in exchange for consumer input. Scammers share fake surveys via social media posts, texts, WhatsApp messages, emails, and even physical mail.
- Fake Walmart refund survey. In a recent scam, fraudsters create fake Facebook profiles to publicize an alleged Walmart refund. These posts claim that shoppers who made a Walmart purchase in 2022 are entitled to $500 due to a lawsuit [*].
- Lowe’s scam survey. Lately, scammers have posed as the Lowe’s marketing team, offering a “free” Kobalt tool set to people who fill out a 30-second questionnaire.
- Post-vaccine survey scams. In February 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned the public about new telemarketing, SMS, social media, and in-person fraud schemes related to coronavirus [*].
Sometimes scammers target a large number of people and try to get a small amount of money from each person. Scams are always about money. This is not always true. Some scams are aimed at stealing personal information from you. Remember these golden rules to help you beat the scammers.
Online paid surveys are a legitimate business, as many different companies utilize them to conduct market research. However, amidst the many reputable online paid surveys, there are other survey sites that are actually sites created by scammers or cybercriminals.
People also ask
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