While the internet is a wonderful place blooming with opportunities to earn and engage, many websites are made expressly to scam and deceive people.
Online surveys have long been an easy way to earn some extra cash. As a data tool, online surveys can be a great source of data about trends and preferences. Data points collected via such surveys help companies improve their products, services, and strategies to better meet the needs of the market.
However, such surveys can also be a great way to build a data profile on you without your consent. If handled carelessly, your data can also be hacked and sold on the dark web—especially if you disclosed personal details such as your address or telephone number.
To keep yourself safe from any potential data theft you need to be as informed as possible before signing up for an online survey. Not every survey site is genuine; accessing scam survey sites can expose your data to thieves and hackers online.
In this article, we walk you through the five questions you have to ask yourself before registering for an online survey site.
Does the site ask for your card details even when it claims to be free?
If you find a website asking for your card data after claiming to be “free” then we highly recommend against signing up with them. This might seem like common sense, but many people mistakenly think it’s safe and don’t ask questions as long as everything turns out well at the end.
You might think that your card details are too trivial to steal. But data thieves don’t steal data because you have valuable data on your card. Instead, they trawl for all available data and go from there.
There’s no way to know where your card data might end up once it’s stolen. It could lead to nothing. But it could also lead to serious problems later on if it is used to steal your identity or commit crimes.
What kind of personal information is the site asking for in the registration process?
If you ever come across a website asking for your personal data such as name, email address, or phone number then we recommend staying away from them. Your age and gender should be sufficient for most surveys.
Online surveys are so popular because it allows companies to elicit market research tips. Your personal data does not matter to such companies, as all they’re after is data on your specific demographic group.
Unscrupulous survey sites want your data because they can use it for selling or sharing with other data mining companies. Even if they don’t sell that information to third-parties, it’s still your private data floating online for data thieves to steal. Don’t take that chance.
What variety of vouchers or prizes does the site offer for taking surveys?
It’s important to be clear about what you get for completing online surveys. The list of prizes and vouchers that the survey site offers should be prominently displayed on its website.
Answering surveys is easy but it can get tedious very quickly. Don’t shortchange yourself by signing up for a survey website that doesn’t offer something you find valuable.
Legitimate survey sites know that their success hinges on their data quality. They have to offer something that appeals to the targeted demographic group for them to answer survey questions honestly.
Survey sites that skimp on vouchers and prizes indicate they don’t value your data enough or they’re trying to get it for as cheap as possible. Either way, that’s not a good sign.
How good is the site’s social media presence?
A survey site’s social media presence is a good indicator of its legitimacy.
If the survey site you’re eyeing maintains a social media presence across multiple channels like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram then you can be sure you’ll hear something if anything sketchy comes up.
A red flag would be survey sites that have no social media presence or those that have inactive social media accounts. Even small businesses maintain a minimal presence on Facebook to keep their brand visible.
Without any social media presence, you won’t have access to fellow survey-takers who can give you feedback about data security or their experience with the site’s customer service.
If you look hard enough, you might be able to find a few above-board survey sites that have no presence at all on social media. But with so many legitimate sites out there, do you really want to risk it?
Does the site have a way for panelists to give public feedback?
Having a way for panelists to offer public feedback is a good way to suss out how legitimate a survey site is.
A data market research tool should have a dedicated feedback channel where panelists can leave reviews and complaints.
In addition to keeping panelists happy, this also helps survey sites hone their processes so they can continuously improve the quality of the data they get from respondents.
Asking yourself these five basic questions can help you determine the legitimacy of the survey site you’re eyeing. They only take a few minutes to answer but you can save yourself a lot of trouble down the road by doing so. You want your survey sites to care for your data just as much as you would, as the price of settling for less can be catastrophic.
Author: Bash Sarmiento