For instance, the one that says "Do u like Tony Blair? Answer and get a FREE Laptop." Has anyone actually won anything from these things?
2006-09-02 04:18:54 · 14 answers · asked by Georgina 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
"There's no such thing as a 'free lunch'"
This is especially true on the internet, you don't get something without giving hem something in return. Typically it will open the door for them to sell you something (you were interested enough to click).
Worse still (and more likely the more outrageous the "prize" is) they will simply collect your email address and sell it to a spammer.
Even worse than that is that they will say you have to "send a fee to claim your prize" (you see these in magazine inserts too) or call a high cost line ... then you don't receive anything or something cheap like a packet of seeds.
Don't ever give them your back account number (i.e. a cheque) as that is open sesame to a fraudster.
Worst case, the link will take you to a site that will install a virus on your machine, harvest all the email addresses you have and send them to a spam list seller, install software on your machine to make it into a spam robot, search through all your files and send anything with financial data or passwords to the virus writer so they can steal all your online accounts and pretend to be you to your friends, tricking them into clicking on virus links in turn...
Caveat clicker!
2006-09-02 05:32:17 · answer #1 · answered by sweeteglantine02 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a gimmick. As you go through the process of receiving your laptop, mp3 or whatever you find out that there are conditions and those conditions usually include you spending a lot of cash on stuff that nobody wants so in the long run you are paying for it and it's not free after all.
2006-09-02 04:23:34 · answer #2 · answered by adozenredroses12 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it's a trick to sign up to the site and then you're bombarded big time. As for the laptop prize you have to answer a few pages of all advertising stuff and promotions etc. Forget it, it's just a scam.
2006-09-02 04:27:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not a good idea to click on such ads. They are usually placed there to harvest e-mail addresses. You would start receiving a great deal of spam once a place like that gets your address.
2006-09-02 08:04:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
IGNORE THEM,they are a infection waiting to happen,all of us see them on web pages and i am sure that the lot of us dont have errors on our machine
a load of rubbish....also you get nothing for free
2006-09-02 05:16:31 · answer #5 · answered by brianthesnail123 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No! It's a trick to make you call them and then they charge you a ton. Or if they ask for your email they will send you spam. It's a common mistake. Don't do it. Pal
2006-09-02 04:24:18 · answer #6 · answered by arronwrath 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No probably not. They are there to enable the companies to put cookies onto your computer, Don't click on them
2006-09-02 04:20:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oh Definitelt Yes , HEHE
2006-09-02 04:21:30 · answer #8 · answered by OverDose 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No they are just in your head
2006-09-02 04:20:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i won a prize.
2006-09-02 04:31:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋