It’s said that here’s no such thing as a free lunch. So, of course, the same logic applies to all those spammy emails you get. The ones claiming you won a lottery. Earned a free gift card. Awarded an iPhone. None of these offers is legitimate, even though their logos and senders look real. But here are some specific details and warnings about “free-stuff” email scams:
Do Not Interact with Scammy Emails
As soon as you recognize a spam email like these, your goal should be to get rid of it. That means deleting it, or marking it as spam. You must not interact with it!
- DO NOT click any buttons or links in the message
- DO NOT try to “unsubscribe”
- DO NOT reply to the email
When someone interacts with a spam email by clicking inside of it, they are playing into the hands of the spammers. Every single piece of a spam message has tracking built-in to it. When you use a button or trigger a link, you are silently sending a message back to the sender of the email.
And that message is “My email address is GullibleGeorge@gmail.com and I read spam email and I will click on any interesting links I receive.” I know. You didn’t mean to send that to them, but if you clicked something, that’s the message they got.
And once they get that from you, they’ll take your email address and sell it to other spammers. One misplaced click can result in a deluge of new spam. And there are no takebacks or do-overs.
“Unsubscribe” Has Been Compromised
That’s right, even the link at the bottom to “unsubscribe” cannot be trusted. You must resist and refrain from clicking it! It is like any other clickable element in the email and it does not do what it says. “Unsubscribe” actually means “subscribe“.
The only time you may trust an “unsubscribe” offer is when it comes from a large, trusted company AND you remember signing up for the promotional email in the first place. But if there is any doubt, please let your default, or gut reaction be: Don’t Unsubscribe.
Financial Dangers
Of course, the spammers’ end-goal is to get your money. But how do they do that with free-stuff email offers? With the latest spam going around, it appears they lead victims through fake surveys, and present them with their “winnings” at the end… after they pay a small fee.
That charge is presented as a shipping cost or transaction fee, and they make it so official-looking and easy to pay it. But you must not pay, you must not give your bank card info!
Anyone who trusts these offers enough to submit their payment info will be charged. More specifically, though:
- victims will be charged and never receive their “prize”
- other small charges will be assessed to the bank card, at later dates
- the card could be used in other scams, resulting in large charges and fraud alerts from the bank
If you submitted any payment info to a website like shown above, please contact your bank ASAP, explain your mistake, and ask for a new card/account number. They will close your current account to protect your finances.
Think About Other People
I know the majority of people reading this are not going to fall for these schemes. I hope no one has suffered a detached retina from eye-rolling at this post. But you are now part of the information bucket-brigade. You get to help protect others against this.
Think about who you know who might be susceptible to this sort of thing. Your overly trusting grandmother, or your tween kiddos who are just learning to use email. If possible, educate those you care about. We’re all in this together. Knowledge is our main defense.