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Writing is like a good barbecue sauce, if it ain't bold, it ain't worth doing.

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You are here: Home / Scams & Cons / Surveying those emails offering big bucks to complete a survey

Surveying those emails offering big bucks to complete a survey

November 2, 2014 By Terry 1 Comment

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Latest edition The Snitch—scam tips, recipes, contests, and more

Got opinions? Want to get paid to express them? That’s exactly what this tip is all about. Let’s call this one the Fake Survey Scam. It all starts with an email that looks something like this.

Hello,

There’s an exclusive new opportunity that has just popped up online. This special opportunity is available by invite only.

A few people were picked and we decided we would invite you as one of them. In this opportunity you can earn an income from home using nothing but your computer. There’s no marketing to do, no experience necessary.

All you’ve got to do is give your opinion by checking a couple of boxes and completing a couple of forms and you will be compensated for your time.

Time is of the essence! See you there.

Sincerely,

John

P.S. – This may just be the break you’ve been looking for.

In the spirit of the offer, I figured I’d jump right in at the beginning. I’ll use the good old “Pass-Fail” method as a way to grade. Harsh, I know.

Solicitation: Dear John, you’ve received a big Fail on the solicitation. The email tells me I’m one of just a few people picked for this exclusive opportunity. If I’m so special, how come you didn’t use my name?

Overall tone: Nice job, John. I’ll give you a Pass on this. The email is friendly, almost folksy. You’re missing a few commas, but other than the comma deficit, it’s not a bad way to write. And, by the way, you done did good on the grammer and speling. Didn’t see no screw ups there. (Can you spot mine, John? Brownie points if you can!)

Call to action: Fail. While it’s true the email gave me three links to a site called “click4surveys.com,” there was no “click here” demand. I suggest you tune into some online marketing blogs for the fine points on how to make a more compelling argument.

Online Reputation: Oh, very bad. Big Fail here, too. I went to Web of Trust and looked up the site. Ouch. Bad rep. Looking at the domain name for click4surveys, I found that the domain is registered to Ricky Powers in Holland, MI. But, the big ouch comes in because in the past 11 years, the domain has been through 16 changes in hosting. What this most likely means is that the domain registrars and hosting companies aren’t fond of Ricky . . . or John . . . or whoever he is.

Screen Shot 2014-11-01 at 2.12.49 PMBusiness Reputation: This company is listed on bbb.org as a work-at-home company. Their rating at bbb.org is a solid F. So, everybody, take note. That F is a solid Fail no matter what rating system we use.

PS This may be just the break the sender of the email was looking for, but certainly not me. How about you? Have you tried one of these companies? Shied away? Sound off below!


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Filed Under: Scams & Cons Tagged With: email scam, phishing, scams

About Terry

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don’t know, that’s the guy who finds the people who don’t want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job.

Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage.

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Comments

  1. Mary Roya says

    November 2, 2014 at 9:46 AM

    I did at home answering surveys cor about two years. I made about $40 and one site only gave out prizes. It took forever to earn the money and I would answer sometimes more than two surveys a day. I finally stopped. I noticed the older I got the less and less likely I made the survey conditions. It just too much h work for very little in return.

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