Is that survey real or fake? How to spot a survey scam

Online surveys and quizzes are all over the internet. They're quick and cheap to set up, easy for recipients to fill out, and simple for researchers to interpret. It's no wonder that they remain a popular tool for marketers to reach and research their target audiences. Many of them are indeed legitimate and even paid or offer other rewards in return. Every little helps, especially during the cost-of-living crisis. Or perhaps you have another reason to participate in them - assuming you also understand the value of the information you may be disclosing about yourself and your family. Since it's just as quick and easy for scammers to mimic legit surveys for their own ends and dangle 'rewards' in exchange for answers to a couple of seemingly innocuous questions, how can you tell a legitimate survey from a phoney one? Whether the scammers are looking to steal your passwords, credit card details or other information, install malware on your PC or another device, or add you to more spam mailing lists, it makes sense to understand what the risks are, and how to "Separate the wheat from the chaff". These scam campaigns are increasingly big business for cybercriminals. One study recently revealed that a single criminal network was making US$80 million per month from global victims - using surveys and giveaways from 120 well-known brands to lure its victims. Recipients are offered money, a gift card, a gadget, entry to a sweepstake, money off their next purchase, or any number of non-existent prizes if they participate in the survey. Scammers may request the participant pays a 'processing fee,' 'taxes' or a 'shipping/handling' charge in order to receive the non-existent prize. Clicking on the message will take the user not to a legitimate brand's website but an imposter website. Often, the user is redirected multiple times en route to the fake survey, as was the case with this scam, which promised a $500 Ulta Beauty gift card to victims. Victims are often asked to share the survey/giveaway offer with their social media or other contacts, which distributes the scam even further while adding legitimacy in the eyes of recipients. If you're unlucky enough to fall for one of these scams, there are several potential outcomes. Be asked to fill out personal information that is then processed to add you to a spamming list. Be asked to fill out personal and financial information that results in identity fraud and/or follow-on phishing attempts. Unwittingly install malware on your machine by visiting the scam site. Sometimes the survey site may even flash up fake AV warnings. Malware could steal your login details for banking or crypto accounts, encrypt your files unless you pay a ransom, co-opt your machine into a botnet etc. Be asked to pay some money for nothing, such as membership of a group which will share details of paid surveys with you. Be hit with an advanced fee scam - e.g., where you're asked to pay a small fee in return for a prize that never materializes. The bottom line is that survey scams lead to nothing but monetary or data loss - plus the emotional distress of trying to get your money back and cancelling bank cards. With the above in mind, it makes sense to understand the tell-tale signs of a survey scam, what to do in order to stay safe and what should happen if you fall victim. Don't blindly trust survey offers, even if sent from a friend or family member. Research the giveaway to see if it's being reported as a scam or if it's legitimate. Install a security solution from a reputable vendor on all devices and PCs. Keep your OS and apps updated across all PCs and devices. Only trust official app stores, such as Google Play and the App Store. Keep informed about current threats - it will provide a useful early warning system. Use strong and unique passwords together with multi-factor authentication for all important accounts. Even if scammers steal your passwords, it's less likely they can access those accounts with 2FA enabled. Don't trust the caller ID/sender number for unsolicited messages. Never pay to retrieve 'funds' - these are always scams. If the worst happens, report compromised cards immediately to your bank to have them cancelled, or freeze them first via your banking app. Change any passwords that may have been compromised. Surveys may be a useful tool for marketers, but they are often of limited value to consumers. Best avoid them altogether unless you have a very good reason not to.

This Cyber News was published on www.welivesecurity.com. Publication date: Sat, 04 Feb 2023 06:24:03 +0000


Cyber News related to Is that survey real or fake? How to spot a survey scam

Is that survey real or fake? How to spot a survey scam - Online surveys and quizzes are all over the internet. They're quick and cheap to set up, easy for recipients to fill out, and simple for researchers to interpret. It's no wonder that they remain a popular tool for marketers to reach and research ...
1 year ago Welivesecurity.com
Adobe Real-Time CDP: Personalized Customer Experience - Adobe Experience Cloud Products like Adobe Real-Time CDP are available to assist. A revolutionary solution called Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform was created to assist companies in realizing the whole value of their customer data. Adobe ...
9 months ago Hackread.com
Check Point Research Unfolds: Navigating the Deceptive Waters: Unmasking A Sophisticated Ongoing NFT Airdrop Scam - Sophisticated Scam Targeting Token Holders: Over 100 popular projects' token holders targeted with fake NFT airdrops appearing from reputable sources. Multi-Stage Deception Uncovered: The ongoing Scam involves enticing victims to fraudulent websites ...
8 months ago Blog.checkpoint.com
Fraudulent "CryptoRom" Apps Slip Through Apple and Google App Store Review Process - Pig Butchering, also known as Sha Zhu Pan and CryptoRom, is an ugly name for an ugly scam. What is new is that apps perpetrating the scam can be downloaded from the official Apple and Android app stores - giving them greater apparent validity to ...
1 year ago Securityweek.com
Fraudsters make $50,000 a day by spoofing crypto researchers - Multiple fake accounts impersonating cryptocurrency scam investigators and blockchain security companies are promoting phishing pages to drain wallets in an ongoing campaign on X. To lure potential victims, the scammer uses a breach on major ...
10 months ago Bleepingcomputer.com
Cyber Crime Wave: Chinese Scammers Target Europe with Fake Designer Brands - In the last couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the number of people who have been duped into sharing their card details and other personal information with a network of fake online designer shops that are operated from China, which appear ...
4 months ago Cysecurity.news
New Phishing Scam Hooks META Businesses with Trademark Threats - The phishing scam falsely asserts that the victim's Facebook page will be permanently deleted due to a post allegedly infringing on trademark rights. There is no actual infringement; it's all part of the scammer's malicious plan. In a recent wave of ...
8 months ago Hackread.com
Fake app impersonating LastPass spotted in Apple's App Store The Register - LastPass says a rogue application impersonating its popular password manager made it past Apple's gatekeepers and was listed in the iOS App Store for unsuspecting folks to download and install. A screenshot of the fake LastPass app in the Apple App ...
8 months ago Go.theregister.com
Massive utility scam campaign spreads via online ads - When customers want to discuss their bills or look for ways to save money, scammers are just a phone call away. Enter the utility scam, where crooks pretend to be your utility company so they can threaten and extort as much money from you as they ...
7 months ago Malwarebytes.com
Fake Recruiters Defraud Facebook Users via Remote Work Offers - A fresh wave of job scams is spreading on Meta's Facebook platform that aims to lure users with offers for remote-home positions and ultimately defraud them by stealing their personal data and banking credentials. The attackers dangle offers of ...
9 months ago Darkreading.com
Pig Butchering: Fake Trading Apps Target Crypto on Apple, Google Play Stores - Pig Butchering scam targets crypto users with fake trading apps on Apple and Google Play Stores. These apps, found on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, and on phishing sites, are part of a Pig Butchering scam targeting cryptocurrency investors ...
1 week ago Hackread.com
7 Months Inside an Online Scam Labor Camp - He had been kidnapped and forced to work for an abusive online scam operation. A man was abducted by a Chinese gang and forced to work in a scam operation. More than anything else, Neo Lu, a 28-year-old Chinese office worker, believed the gig would ...
9 months ago Nytimes.com
9 Best DDoS Protection Service Providers for 2024 - eSecurity Planet content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More. One of the most powerful defenses an organization can employ against distributed ...
10 months ago Esecurityplanet.com
Best of 2023: Why is everyone getting hacked on Facebook? - Importantly, phishing relies on the victim trusting the scammer and taking an action - like clicking a link or sending bank account information - in order for the scammer to get what they want. It's not your imagination - social media scams really ...
9 months ago Securityboulevard.com
How Kasada Counters Toll Fraud and Fake Account Creation for Enterprises - Toll fraud and fake account creation are two advanced threats that bad actors employ for massive profit. Fake Account Creation is committed by a wide range of attackers, through automating the generation of new user accounts en masse, which then get ...
10 months ago Securityboulevard.com
How to Protect Yourself from Job Scams: Essential Tips - The internet is a powerful tool in our career search, but it also provides cyber criminals with information and tactics they can use to exploit and deceive people looking for work. Job scams are sadly prevalent on the web, and if you’re job ...
1 year ago Tripwire.com
A Fifth of UK SMBs Can't Spot Scams - A worrying 17% of the UK's small and medium-sized businesses can't always spot the tell-tale signs of online fraud and scams, according to new data from UK Finance. The banking industry body has been running its "Can you spot fraud?" quiz for small ...
10 months ago Infosecurity-magazine.com
Fake browser updates spread updated WarmCookie malware - The latest campaign was discovered by researchers at Gen Threat Labs, who observed the WarmCookie backdoor being distributed as fake Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Java updates. FakeUpdate is a cyberattack strategy used by a ...
1 week ago Bleepingcomputer.com
The Fake Browser Update Scam Gets a Makeover - One of the oldest malware tricks in the book - hacked websites claiming visitors need to update their Web browser before they can view any content - has roared back to life in the past few months. New research shows the attackers behind one such ...
10 months ago Krebsonsecurity.com
Indian police arrest five accused of trafficking people into scam compounds - On May 27, the National Investigation Agency said it had searched locations across six states and seized evidence like digital devices and bogus employment letters. Southeast Asia's cyber fraud industry, which is run primarily by Chinese organized ...
4 months ago Therecord.media
The Verge is not interested in interviewing you about crypto - If you get a message from someone at The Verge asking to schedule an interview about cryptocurrency, don't do it. We recently discovered that a bad actor has been impersonating Verge science reporter Justine Calma to carry out this scam. If a victim ...
8 months ago Theverge.com
Sophisticated Booking.com Scam Targeting Guests with Vidar Infostealer - The 'How To' guide for targeting Booking.com customers is being offered for sale on the dark web, as well as on underground cybercrime forums, including Russian-speaking platforms such as XSS.IS. Cybersecurity firm Secureworks is alerting Booking.com ...
10 months ago Hackread.com
Majority in new survey worried about being tricked by scammer - The majority of respondents in a new survey say they are worried about being tricked by a scammer, making it the second-highest crime concern for Americans. In a Gallup survey released Tuesday, 57 percent of respondents say they either frequently or ...
10 months ago Thehill.com
Are you sure that online store is real? You might be surprised - The rise of user-friendly online store platforms, originally designed to simplify launching digital storefronts, has unintentionally contributed to this problem. These scam artists have a worldwide presence, launching numerous fake stores in various ...
9 months ago Blog.avast.com
9 online scams to watch out for this holiday season - By being aware of these common online scams and taking precautions, you can protect yourself and your family from becoming victims this holiday season. The holiday season is upon us, and that means it's time to start shopping for gifts. It's not just ...
10 months ago Blog.avast.com

Latest Cyber News


Cyber Trends (last 7 days)


Trending Cyber News (last 7 days)