Spam Email Scams
(448 Words)
If you have an e-mail address, chances are you have been the target of numerous marketing scams. These scams are easy to perpetuate, and unfortunately they gather enough victims to make it worthwhile. It is important to understand the most common scams so that you can protect yourself from these con artists.
• We are giving away something absolutely free!
Who can resist a free product? You may get an e-mail stating that a company would like to send you a free product for absolutely nothing. There are different spins on this. They may say that they want you to try it out as a product tester. Perhaps they just want to get the word out about the product. All they need is your address and just for security reasons your credit card number or a cash deposit that will be returned.
So do companies really give away something for nothing? Most of the time the answer is no. Chances are you will end up paying for that product somehow, if there even is a product. They may charge your credit card. They may expect you to return it (at your own cost) within a certain amount of time if you do not want it. Sometimes there are shipping and handling charges that far exceed what the actual charges are. Sometimes you will get the product, but other times the entire e-mail will turn out to be a scam.
• Congratulations, you are a winner!
You may be so excited by the e-mail that states that you won a contest that you forget that you did not enter a contest. According to Bankrate.com, marketing scam artists will try to convince you that you have won an amazing prize. You just need to give them your credit card number or some money to prove your identity. Of course there may not be any prize at all.
• Fake gift certificates
Sometimes this scam is somewhat legitimate. The e-mail says that you have won a gift certificate that is worth $10, $20 or another amount. When you go to redeem it you find out that you have to spend a much greater amount. It really is a coupon and not a gift certificate. By that point you may have already selected items that you want to buy and so you go through with the sale anyways.
E-mail marketing scams are all too common. They range from deceitful practices to outright fraud. Remember that just because the return address appears to be from a trusted source does not mean that it is. Do not believe any e-mail until you have verified its validity and read every word of the fine print.