SCAMwatch is warning consumers to continue to be wary of unsolicited emails that appear to come from well-known businesses or agencies. Scammers trick unsuspecting victims into providing personal details so that they can steal your money or your identity!
We have received several reports about consumers receiving unsolicited emails supposedly from McDonalds. This bogus email offers McDonald's customers a $50 bonus for filling out an online 'customer satisfaction survey'. Below is a copy of the text from the email:
Dear McDonald's Customer,
We are planning big changes for 2009 at McDonalds AU chain of restaurants and because your oppinion is very important to us, we invite you to take a short Customer Satisfaction Survey that will help us improve the quality of our food and services.
We know your time is valuable, so we will give you a $50 bonus just for taking our quick 7 question survey. The entire process will take no more than 5 minutes.
[link to survey]
Once the survey is completed, the scammer will request the consumer to provide their credit card/bank details to receive the $50 payment. Instead, the scammer will use these details to steal money or commit identity fraud.
If you receive this email or any other unsolicited email that appears to come from a company, banking institution or agency, do not follow any of the links in the email as this can result in an unwanted download on your computer.
Remember that reputable companies and banks will never ask you to provide your banking details via an email.
Protect yourself
- Never send your personal, credit card or banking details over the phone in response to unsolicited emails or enter it on any website if you are not certain it is genuine.
- If you receive unsolicited emails delete them immediately!
- Don't open any attachments, click on any links or reply to these emails.
- If in doubt, always contact the business, government agency or bank to verify that the request is genuine. Never rely on contact details provided in unsolicited emails. Instead, find these contact details independently.
- If you provided your banking details as a result of this email, report the incident to your banking institution immediately.
Report
You can report a scam through the SCAMwatch website.
More information
Explore SCAMwatch to find out more about phishing scams, learn how you can protect yourself against scammers or to report a scam.
