Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Have you received an email like the one below, claiming to be from
We're currently investigating these. The address on the site (20700 Civic Center, suite 170, Southland, Michigan 48076) appears to be a fake and we find no evidence of a company "Ask America Survey" in Michigan.
The Better Business Bureau says this of Ask-America:
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to a failure to respond to a complaint. alleging deceptive advertising practices
Ask America could be a phishing scam and/or possible job scam. When you open the email, hidden code may verify your email address. If you visit the website, the same happens via the coded spoofed URL. Filling in the survey gives the scammers a lot of insight in how to further classify you as a target in future scams.
According to the Better Business Bureau, BBB, Ask America Survey has an unsatisfactory due to a failure to respond to complaints, as do their others: Good Grade Zone / Good Grades Now (BBB not received a response), Administrative Solutions Group (adminsolutionsgroup.net appear to be completely fictitious companies, they don't legally exist).
Other web businesses suspected of being related are:
CFR RECOMMENDS THAT YOU DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION!
We recommend you file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, it is free and easy to do online. Just fill out the simple form on this page: https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/GetStarted.aspx I
Do you have a resume posted online? We'd like to hear from you about your experiences recruiting emails that turned out to be scams or misleading - click here to write us. We suspect these are possibly a new wave of identity theft attacks.
See this page for feedback about Ask-America from other victims!
Dear Sandra,
I recently viewed your resume online and feel you may be a good candidate for the Survey Taker position that we have available. We are Ask-America, a company that conducts market research and does marketing for other companies.
We are looking for individuals that would respond to online surveys. You would receive surveys by e-mail and simply answer the questions giving your honest impressions and opinions. We understand that there are some companies that are toting survey takers with an upfront fee. While we at Ask America make no judgments about other companies, we just want to clarify a couple of points.
Ask America will never under any circumstances ask a Survey Taker for any payment whatsoever. In addition Ask America will never ask a survey taker to provide a social security number or any type of financial information that can be used for phishing or identity theft.
Surveys pay anywhere from $30 - $50 per hour depending on the client and your speed. You will be informed how much each survey pays prior to taking a survey. You can accept or reject any survey.
We have a wide variety of clients and affiliates including the following: Better Homes and Gardens, The Discovery Channel Store, Fandango, Forbes, Petco, The Sharper Image, The Wall Street Journal, and dozens of others.
As mentioned earlier there is absolutely no fee to become a Survey Taker and you can work as much or as little as you want. The only thing you must do is complete an initial Sample Survey so we can gauge which future surveys you would be qualified to take. The number of surveys you will receive will be based on the answers to your initial Sample Survey. For example, if you are a homeowner, you will receive surveys from companies marketing to homeowners. If you have children, you will receive surveys from companies looking for opinions of parents, etc.
If you are interested in becoming a Survey Taker click the link below (or copy and paste the address in your browser)
www.ask-america.net/Surveys.cfm?J=2456696
Once there, you can read additional information about Ask-America and the Survey Taker position.
Sincerely,
Kennedy Phillips
Click here to be removed from any future employment offers.
Mon, 12 Mar 2007 06:07:06 -0600 (CST), Careers wrote
Dear Colleen O'Hara,
Thank you for applying, after reviewing your application we would like to invite you to be a Survey Taker.
As you know Survey Takers receive surveys through email. You simply click on the link in the email, log in with your username and password and answer all questions.
The initial compensation for surveys is $30 per hour. Each survey has an expected time in which to complete and the Survey Taker is paid that amount per survey.
You can find more details about the position in the "Survey Takers" section at www.AskAmerica.org.
In order to have you entered as a Survey Taker you must first complete the sample survey, which will allow us to determine which surveys you qualify for.
All Surveys must be filled out completely and honestly.
To complete the sample survey, please visit the website www.askamerica.org and log in with the following username and password:
Username: colleen@fffff.com
Password: O''Hara
If the above link does not work, please copy/paste the link into your browser.
Regards,
Jill Connelly
From: [ employment@ask-america.net ]
Sent: 3/27/2007 6:49:00 AM
Subject: Jo Ann, regarding your application.
Dear Jo Ann,
Thank you for completing the Initial Survey. It appears that you are qualified to be a Survey Taker for Ask America. I need to find out some additional information about how many hours you wish to work, what days you are available, etc - before I can issue a final approval of your application.
To complete the application process, please visit the website:
www.askamerica.org
Log in with the following username and password:
Username: jgorman59@gadball.com
Password: Gorman
If the above link does not work, please copy/paste the link into your browser.
Once you have logged in confirm that the information is correct and complete the additional information requested. This should take just a few minutes. Once you have completed this information I will be able to make a final decision.
Regards,
Jill Connelly
Ask America - Community Manager
Click here to be removed from any future employment offers.
There are a variety of sleazy scams that look, at first glance, like legitimate job offers. Before you write back to them, pause a moment and read about the scams below!
Some of the more common job scams are