Watch Out for Spam Sites

Hi everyone,

I recently opened my mailbox to find more than 145 emails. To my dismay almost a third of them were spam messages indicating I signed up to receive offers from them. I am still trying to investigate which site caused this spam to take place and once I do, I will post it so you don't have the same problem.

Always be very careful who you are working with on the surveys. There are some great survey sites out there, but there are more sites that only act as a clearinghouse. They don't actually offer you any surveys, just lead you to other sites that may cause spam on your computer.

If this happens to you, make sure you mark all of the messages as spam AND unsubscribe from any of the links. Be careful out there and don't give up on surveys just because there are few sites you should avoid.

Look out for these sites.

I have found several sites that are not not useful for you. These sites either require you to purchase something when you sign up, they are clearinghouses for other sites giving you information you already know if you read this blog and some just spam you constantly. Avoid them at all costs!! The two that have begun to really annoy me lately are SnapDollars and Creation Rewards. The first looks deceivingly like Hits4Pay, DealsnCash or InboxDollars where you get paid a small amount, 1, 2 or 5 cents for reading emails. The only problem is the site draws you into reading emails that you need to register for some product or service that in the end may cost money or have telemarketers hounding you. The second is a clearinghouse that offers you the same information I am giving you but you are signing up under another person's account so they make money off of you while you are earning your own money. They will also require you to sign up for additional sites where you get unlimited emails from advertisers.

By the way, you also need to protect yourself from the three sites listed above. You might get drawn in to sign up for an affiliate status. This will require a credit card and you will be billed monthly. The affiliate program is run by Multiple Stream Media Blog and they definitely will spam you, so be wary if you decide to become an affiliate! Remember, most affiliate links mean that you are signing up under another person's name so they make money off of you.

Mooching and the Art of Freebies

I was watching the Today show this week and was delighted to see a segment titled "The Age of Mooching" from Today's Consumer Smarts segment. You can access the video "How much can you get for free?" at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30453083#30453083. A lot of the information they gave is the same stuff as I have written. One of the suggestions they gave was to use a different email address that is not the one you normally use. I agree in principal with that suggestion, however, not everyone has the luxury or time to set up multiple email addresses and then, more importantly check them daily. Sometimes our lives can get so complicated with a never ending list of things to do that we may forget to check an obscure email address that we set up for the purpose of answering surveys. One of the tricks I use to make it easier is to set up the second email address on a free site like Yahoo or Google and then configure it up to have my mail forwarded directly to the email address I check daily. That way, I don't have to remember to go to another site to check the mail, I get it delivered on a timely basis, and I don't get spammed. So if you are worried about giving out your normal email address, do as I do and make life easier on your self and have it forwarded automatically.

Some of the other things they talked about are important to remember. You will need to give a valid address if you want to receive free items or to get paid. However, do not give out your credit card information or other personal information including social security numbers. A site that says they need that information may be fraudulent and is certainly not worth your while.