Let's be careful out there (part 2)...

When consumers are looking to make money, they may be tempted to spend a few minutes filling out an online survey that promises them a sweet monetary reward. However, what many consumers may not know is that the “free online survey” they’re getting ready to fill out is actually a scam, designed to steal their personal information.

A survey scam is usually a survey delivered via phone or online that seeks to gather the personal information of potential victims.

Fraudsters often tell their targets that completing the survey will result in some sort of reward, examples include entry into a “sweepstakes” to win a trip or cash prize, a “coupon” for some popular product or service, or a gift card. Some fraudsters even used the COVID-19 outbreak to send “post-vaccine surveys” that were, of course, fake.

The damage done by online scams can vary greatly depending on the nature of the scam, the target, and the attacker’s specific goals. In many cases, online survey scams target consumers to steal their personal data so it can be resold to others or used in identity theft schemes. This can harm consumers in a few ways:

1) Increased “Nuisance” Calls. When their contact data is illicitly shared with advertisers, consumers may see a major increase in nuisance phone calls, emails, and texts from various sources. Some of these unwanted ads may even be from other fraudsters who, knowing the victim has fallen for other scams in the past, see them as an easy target.

2) Compromised Online Accounts. Online survey scams may ask unusual personal questions like “Where did you go to school?” or “What’s your favourite food?” While posing as a personality quiz, the scammer is actually collecting answers to common identity verification questions used by websites. With these questions, fraudsters can force password resets to access their victims’ online accounts. This can be used to defraud the victim of money, access services the victim paid for without their knowledge, or to commit identity theft.

3) Identity Theft. Using information collected during the “survey,” fraudsters can try to steal the identity of the people taking part in the survey. For example, they could sign up for new credit cards or loans using the information they took. Using this method, fraudsters can rack up tens of thousands of dollars in damages for each identity stolen.

Please use common sense and always be aware that there are a LOT of nasty people out there !!!