Paid Survey Sites And Identity

elsien

I give my name and address - anyone who's that bothered can get that information off the electoral register anyway. I get the odd bit of postal junk mail or brochures but very rarely (once every few months) and most of that comes from entering competitions not surveys. The mails I get loads, but most go into the spam folder, and again that's because of entering competitions rather than surveys. I wouldn't give my landline number even though there's been no phone calls as yet, but that's not about fraud its because I don't like people calling me, and I only use the one throwaway email. No-ones ever asked for more than one.
Been doing surveys and entering competitions for a few years now and not had a problem as yet.

Angel153

elsien wrote: »

I give my name and address - anyone who's that bothered can get that information off the electoral register anyway. I get the odd bit of postal junk mail or brochures but very rarely (once every few months) and most of that comes from entering competitions not surveys. I wouldn't give my landline number even though there's been no phone calls as yet, and I only use the one throwaway email. No-ones ever asked for more than one.
Been doing surveys and entering competitions for a few years now and not had a problem as yet.

Yeah, I get that about the electoral register, so in that respect I probably AM just being paranoid! NVL's sign up form wants name, d.o.b, email, alternative email, daytime and evening phone, AND mobile. If anything, I'd rather give out my mobile, because I can block spam calls on that, and do, regularly. They've been recommended here, though, so now unsure what to do! :eek:

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elsien

You could always try putting in the mobile number for all 3 and tell them you don't have a landline.

Angel153

Lol, I've already admitted elsewhere about my landline/broadband phone provider, so that would probably flag up as an inconsistency. I just left those fields blank, but put my mobile number in. That's always screened, so if I suddenly get a spate of unrecognised numbers, I won't answer (signal at home is too poor for voice calls anyway). I Google unknown numbers and block them if they are shown online as cold calls etc. i figure any genuine callers will leave a message. No message, no call back. Same goes for my landline, but I'm not about to give that out!

One of the things I'm the most concerned about is the potential there is for these companies to put things on your device/computer. One of them wanted my permission to configure my webcam for video response research, plus remotely installing some sort of tracking software so they could monitor my online behaviour. It's not a big stretch from that to them uploading key-logging software to my computer without me knowing about it. If that happened, there's the potential for accessing all kinds of money stuff, passwords included. I don't even like telling them that I buy anything online. If they've got my name, and can locate an account of mine online, like Amazon or whatever, they could easily do that. I'm relying on the fact that doing that would be too petty for them to consider, but do you see what I mean? And what if they're trustworthy, etc, but their site gets hacked and some cyber crims get hold of that type of information?

I'm steeling myself for the inevitable barrage of junk email, all trying to sell me insurances, mobile phones, or anything else I've included in my profiling pages. Am hoping I'm just being paranoid about the rest!

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elsien

I don't do any of the surveys where they want you to download a log, or use a webcam.
Personal preference - I don't know enough about the downloads to understand how they work so I prefer to play safe. And I don't post pictures of myself online anyway, so I'd prefer not to have webcam video somewhere I can't control it. Which is a little inconsistent given the amount of information I share while doing surveys, but it's how I feel.
As far as the junk mail goes, if you're just doing surveys then they have more guidelines to follow ref what they use information for so I don't think you'll have a problem. As I said, most of mine comes from competitions which companies use as a way of gathering emails.

Angel153

I understand how you feel about webcam footage. I feel the same, and for the same reasons.

I might start a new thread about webcams and surveys, see what other people think and if any of them have had any issues with software/malware being downloaded on to their computer. I think the video surveys pay well, and tbh, I don't want to cut off any possible way of earning extra money. But security re having things downloaded to my laptop does bother me.

Thanks for the advice I appreciate it.

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juliahowes

I know what you feel, I've just started registering for online surveys myself to earn some extra cash.
Never had trouble using my own name but I usually go for large known brands that I can trust. I didn't apply individually though but through surveyspy.net but they seem pretty trustworthy. They sent my details to all their partners (5 or 6, can't remember) and I've recognised a few of the logos. Now I've got my hands full with surveys to fill Oh, and I never download anything unless I know what it's for.

fragmented

juliahowes wrote: »

I didn't apply individually though but through ####.net but they seem pretty trustworthy. They sent my details to all their partners (5 or 6, can't remember) and I've recognised a few of the logos.

You should always sign up for the survey companies direct (or via a refferal link) or better still via cashback sites. Using a site that sends you surveys from their 'partners' means you can be loosing out anywhere from 20% to 80% depending how greedy they are, as they will take their cut of the pay. This also means they will tend to use 'partners' that pay them the most.

The site you mentioned in your post(s) is also very new so i still would be dubious of using them myself as they are still somewhat unknowen, and the only posts about them so far are here from yourself, and i can find very little about them in google.

Angel153

Thanks, Julia and fragmented. You lives, you learns

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