Email phishing offers gift cards in
exchange for taking retailer survey
April 01, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
The email message claims to be from a major department store offering to give the addressee a large gift. But although a pricy gift card is offered as the reward for taking part in a shopping survey, the only thing people will get is ripped off.
A common scam email going around is purportedly from “JC Penny” which shouldn’t fool anyone: the giant retailer spells its name JC Penney.
So common is the scam that the company has put a warning on its website about the communicant that promises a $500 shopping voucher for taking a survey.
Once the survey is taken bank account information is requested to cover the small cost of processing and mailing the voucher.
The email, which is from store@networkssouthwaco.com and not JC Penney, warns at the top to “Report Spam” and links to another site that will also try to get personal financial information.
Also known as “phishing” several retailers have been targeted with similar scams, solicitations that can come in the mail, by phone calls, emails, text messages or Web sites.
JC Penney has warned against the online survey gift card offer scam on their website noting. “these offers are not from, nor are they endorsed by,” the company.
“Our store receipts have an offer inviting customers to take a survey,” and includes instructions on how to do same online.
And even then you have to be careful: JC Penney warns “If you use a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, etc., and search,” for the survey you may be directed to the wrong location.
Spam, also known as a bulk email or junk email, involves sending nearly identical messages to numerous recipients by email, a.k.a. e-blasts. Spammers form web pages, news groups, chat rooms, email chain letters and web browsers in order to harvest email addresses for this purpose — and in turn that information is sold to other spammers.
The JC Penney website notes “phishing scams are simply a method of creating fraudulent web sites and email that look similar, if not identical, to those of actual business or organization. The design, look, and feel of the original site or electronic correspondence are copied from the original business or organization.”
Banks have become a common target for phishing scams with many of the nation’s largest copied the most often by scammers.
The best way to avoid being victimized is delete any email that asks you to follow a link … visit the website directly or call if you have questions or concerns.
Companies do not ask for personal information via email. Never give out personal information, especially driver’s license numbers, bank accounts, Social Security numbers or credit cards. If you are emailed or called on the phone and asked for personal information do not give it: call the customer service number on your credit or bankcard if need be. Remember: legitimate entities will never contact you and ask for personal information.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Web site at www.ftc.gov for additional information about protecting your personal information.
