Consumer Alert – Illegal promotions.
Author : teriannIt’s the stuff dreams are made of, a text is sent to your phone that says you have won a prize.
All that is needed to claim that prize is to submit a code from your phone or send money.
Before you jump for joy however, be very careful as you could be the victim of a scam. Several persons have been targeted by these scams and they have been convinced that they have won a promotion and need to give certain information in order to collect their prize.
In fact, the most recent scam has executives at the popular superstore, MegaMart wholesale club, scratching their heads.Apparently someone has been sending SMS messages appearing to originate from the company that states, “Congrats you are lucky winner from Megamart call us thank you.” Once the sender is contacted, persons are asked to input a code on their phone in order to activate the promotion.
Megamart has advised the public that they are not currently conducting any promotion using SMS text services and is neither aware of or associated with the developers of this programme.
How can consumers safeguard themselves from future scams?
Never give information to any individual, either by text or email, without first checking with the company that they claim to represent.
If something sounds too good to be true then follow your instincts and investigate any information that you are given and report suspicious activity to the police.
Teri Ann Renee Paisley, Gleaner Online Writer
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2 Responses to “Consumer Alert – Illegal promotions.”
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For a couple of years I have been seeing a scam which says, ëarn $2397 per month”‘änd this they claim is obtained by doing work at home. Various schemes including correcting and editing articles written. It shows you how these articles are done, and at the end it claims you need by some pencils pens markers, which they supply. You are asked to purchase approx.US$100 for these. Then you never hear from them again, and you receive no value for your money. The are advertised all over the web, and they owe me $100. They hold unto your information as well.
So sorry to hear you were affected by a scam Ramesh, it pays to research any offer before sending them any money.