June 22, 2020
Watch Out For Survey Scams!
Survey scams are nothing new, but NakedSecurity gives an overview of one that popped up on their radar recently. All in all, the major takeaway here is if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Listed below are their 5 tips for navigating online surveys. Read the full article here.
- “Watch out for obvious telltales of fakery. Genuine surveys exist, and you may decide to take part in some of them. But unless everything – and we mean everything – adds up at the start, stay away. Spelling mistakes, wrong dates and unexpected questions, as in this case, should be all the warning you need. If in doubt, leave it out.
- Beware of bait-and-switch tricks. Surveys may look genuine at the start because the crooks often copy them from a legitimate brand. But when the “rules of engagement” start to change and the goalposts move, as they did here (250 rewards turned into just six and finally into just one), get off the site as quickly as you can.
- There is no free iPhone. Or Android, or tablet, or laptop. There just isn’t. Stores don’t hand out $1000 mobile phones in return for you telling them whether you think they should stay open later. They just don’t. Follow your head and not your heart.
- Use a security product on your laptop or phone. Sophos Home (Windows and Mac) and Sophos Intercept X for Mobile (Android) are free. These products add to the built-in protection on your device by scanning downloaded programs and data for threats before they get used, and by blocking bad or scammy websites before your browser can visit them in the first place.
- Report compromised payment cards immediately. If you get as far entering any banking data into a “pay page” and then realise it’s a scam, call your bank’s fraud reporting number at once. (Look on the back of your actual card so you get the right phone number.)”
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