Scam Signature Message: Email message subject line: “Facebook Survey Invite”

Scam Type: Survey Scam, Rogue Application

Trending: January 2011

Why it’s a Scam:

If you “Click here to take the survey & receive your gift,” you are taken to the following screen:

If you enter your email and click “Continue,” you are taken to the following screen:

Keep in mind, at this point you have given this marketing company your email address. Even if you don’t proceed and bail on this silly promotion, they have your email address that they can use to spam you with other offers. There are so many things wrong with this offer, and it should be avoided entirely! You have to provide your name, address, phone numbers and date of birth – way too much personal information for questionable marketers to possess. You also are agreeing to have them contact you by telephone, and you are agreeing to receive promotions from “trusted third parties.”

Here are the official gift rules of this promotion:

Official Gift Offer Rules

Last updated: June 18, 2009

Official Gift Offer Rules for redemption of the Choose A Gift

These Official Gift Rules for redemption of the Choose A Gift are part of the SocialSurveys.us End User License Agreement (“EULA”) to which you must agree in order to use our Service, including seeking to qualify under these Gift Rules. Capitalized terms unless otherwise defined shall have the meanings assigned to them in the EULA.

To qualify for and redeem your Choose A Gift, you must complete each of the following:

1. Registration Form. Complete our Registration Form for the SocialSurveys.us Service by providing true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Registration Form – information that is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete may disqualify you from eligibility to receive the Choose A Gift.
2. Special Offers & Survey. All Special Offers and Survey Questions are optional. Answer or skip all offers that are presented following the registration form. You must also answer all of the questions (yes or no) as indicated at the “Special Offer Survey” page that also follows the registration form. Expressing interest in response to any special offer or survey question is not required to qualify for the Choose A Gift. In contrast, a Sponsor offer, is an offer that you must complete to qualify for the Choose A Gift. Please see the Sponsor Offer section below for the number of Sponsor Offers that must be completed to qualify for your Choose A Gift. The Sponsor Offers appear after you have successfully completed or skipped the special offers and survey section.
3. Sponsor Offers. You must participate in and satisfy a total of 13 Sponsor Offers as follows:
   Page 1: 2 offers
   Page 2: 2 offers
   Page 3: 9 offers
   To satisfy the requirements for the Choose A Gift, you must participate in the above-stated number of offers for each page (participating in offers in excess of those stated above for a given page does not reduce the number of offers in which you must participate on the other pages), and you must complete each of the Sponsor Offers pages listed above.
   Please note Sponsor offers may require you to sample and/or purchase products of interest and/or take other actions such as applying for or obtaining a loan or extension of credit (including credit cards), transferring a balance, or similar steps. In order to remain eligible for your gift, you must complete all of the sponsor offers that require you to sample and purchase products of interest within 180 days of signing up for our service.
   Click here to see a representative sample of our Sponsor Offers
4. Sponsor Offer Registration. In order to satisfy the requirement for participating in the number of Sponsor offers described above, you must meet all qualifications of the Sponsor offers you select, and you must elect to participate in them through the online registration form for the offer (not via telephone). Please note that once you have clicked to and started and/or completed a transaction with a sponsor, you are subject to that sponsor’s terms, conditions and rules on cancellation, and such transactions cannot be canceled by or through the SocialSurveys.us or by failure to complete the requisite number of sponsor offers specified above.
5. Verification of Sponsor Offer Participation. Each Sponsor must provide written verification to SocialSurveys.us that you have successfully qualified for and completed that Sponsor’s offer. Following SocialSurveys.us‘s receipt of such verification from the last of the requisite number of Sponsors, SocialSurveys.us will send an email message to you asking you to confirm your delivery address where the Choose A Gift will be shipped. The qualification time varies by Sponsor, but may be in excess of 30 days. Once you receive your email notification that you have qualified for your gift you must complete and satisfy the instructions within 90 days from the date of qualification. Submission after this time has elapsed does not meet the conditions for eligibility, and SocialSurveys.us will not be obligated to award the gift or reward. Fulfillment based on a completion of redemption instructions after 90 days is at the sole discretion of SocialSurveys.us. In some cases an additional step by you is required to satisfy the Sponsor’s qualifications. By way of example that is not intended to be exhaustive, all-inclusive, or otherwise limiting, a Sponsor offer for, for example, credit card or similar service may require you to use the credit card to make a purchase, take a cash advance, or transfer a balance, to satisfy the Sponsor’s qualifications. The time it takes you to complete this step is in your control and not that of the Service or the Sponsor, and the qualification time for such Sponsor offers accordingly will vary based in part on the time you take to satisfy this requirement.
6. We also recommend that you print and keep any pages or correspondence proving that you completed the sponsor offers. This may be helpful in the unlikely event that one of our sponsors fails to notify us in a timely manner that you have completed the required offer(s). You are responsible for reviewing your account and notifying SocialSurveys.us of any errors. Your gift should ship to you within 6 to 8 weeks after SocialSurveys.us receives confirmation of your delivery address.
7. Limitations:To be eligible to participate, you must be at least 18 years of age at the time of registration and reside in the United States. Employees of SocialSurveys.us and persons related to or residing in the same household of such employees are not eligible. Corporations or other business entities are not eligible to participate. Only one gift is permitted per person per twelve month period. There is a limit of one gift per household.

The Service is not affiliated with the manufacturer or provider of the gift nor with any of the third parties appearing in the marketing promotional copy unless otherwise indicated. All gifts and offers are based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Prizes subject to availability, and quantities may be limited. SocialSurveys.us reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. SocialSurveys.us reserves the right to cancel any offer at any time for any reason, with or without notice.

Summary of Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: How can you offer gifts?
A: We rebate advertiser dollars to consumers in the form of gifts. Our advertising sponsors cover the cost of the Choose A Gift with the shipping and handling charges.

Q: Is there a fee to participate in this program?
A: There are no membership fees for joining. To get your gift, you must continue through the survey and complete participation requirements for sampling and purchasing products of interest.

Did you catch the fine print there? You must agree to participate in and complete 13 sponsor offers. Chances are that by the time you are done, you will have spent far more than the $250.00 gift card you are angling for.

How to Deal with the Scam:

Do not give “special promotions” like this any of your personal information. In situation like this, if it sounds too good to be true, then it most always is. Use sound judgment and stay away from any emails and offers of this nature.

If you made the mistake of submitting your cell phone number for any of the surveys, then you should contact your carrier immediately to keep any bogus charges from appearing.

If you or your Facebook friends are falling for tricks like this, it’s time to get yourself informed of the latest threats. Be sure to join the Facecrooks page on Facebook to stay informed of the latest security issues. Also check out:

Your Ultimate Guide to Facebook Scams and How to Deal with Them