Going
shopping or are you being shopped? that is the question.
But, that may very well be the case if you fall into prize
scams in
exchange for your valuable personal information, such as your
name, address, email address, and phone number. If you do
fall prey to this type of marketing, expect to see your mailbox
fill to the brim in the coming months after the promotion
Have you ever registered to win a car at a shopping mall?
Have
you given all of the information they ask for? Did it ever
occur
to you that the addresses they collect by the thousands are
more valuable than the car you are registering to win?
I have seen many car giveaways in local shopping malls
asking shoppers to give names, addresses and other personal
information to enter their drawing. But I have never
seen a winner. Have you ever seen a winner announced in
your local newspaper or television broadcast.
According to consumer groups this draws suspicion on the
mall drawings, and maybe that is because the car is really
never given away. Some consumer groups say they have
evidence that cars are not given away.
Major corporations sell their mailing list for cash. I called
a
friend of mine who works in an industry where customers
have to give their name, address, and phone number to use
their service. He told me his company collects thousands
of
names and sells the information for large cash payments.
I had to assure him I would keep his company name confidential
in exchange for his information.
There are times when I have to fill out information to register
a product or buy a magazine subscription, so I list my name
in
a particular fashion. Then I pay close attention to
my junk mail before I toss it in the trash. I often notice
the same form of my name showing up on many new pieces
of junk mail after a registration.
Now, back to the shopping mall car give away. If you are
inclined
to give out your personal information to win a car, despite
the
evidence that one has never been given away, watch your
junk mail and remember the way you listed your name.
Lois Center-Shabazz is the founder of MsFinancialSavvy.com
and author
of the 3-time award-winning personal finance book,
Let's Get Financial Savvy!
ISBN #0971979502.
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