The inevitable free iPhone scams
With the release of the iPhone comes, as expected, the offers of free iPhones, very much like the same poisonous offers that infected the Web when the iPod became the device to own. And with those offers come this admonition:
Stay away, it’s a scam.
“No, no,” the scammers will claim, “we really will give away free iPhones, if only….”
That “if only” part is the catch. If only you give up loads of private information to hosts of marketers. If only you likewise sell out your friends. If only you dot every i and cross every t. If only you sign up for a host of solicitations (without the option to cancel for at least 60 days). If only the outfit hosting the promotion feels like honoring the agreement. Then you might get your iPhone.
As much as I’d love to offer every lurid detail of these scams, the San Francisco Chronicle’s David Lazarus has done the work for me with his No Such Thing as a Free Laptop. If you’ve yet to be disabused of the notion that you can get something for nothing, this is required reading.
Category: Musings, News, Tips & Troubleshooting
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Comments (1)
I'm sure a lot of these places are actually scams but I can tell you that I have gotten some stuff for "Free" from some of the better known networks. And by "Free" i mean: I submitted my email address (one used only for junk purposes) and used some of my time to complete the offers they provide as well as sign up others to do the same.
First was the 3G iPod. Signed up did what they asked paid a total of $0.00. Got 5 friends to do the same and about a month later I had a "free" 20gb iPod.
Since that worked fairly well I trusted the same website to try and obtain a free Xbox 360 some years later. And after going through the usual stuff this time signing up 8 other people. Along came my free Xbox 360 some 3-4 months later. Sure it took awhile but I wasn't about to complain about a "free" (read: $9.99) Xbox 360. Total investment in this one was a $9.99 one time fee for some coffee that turned out to be pretty good.
Then I did some research on a place doing a similar thing for Xbox 360 games and scored me a free copy of Oblivion in about 2 weeks. By completing two of the offers they provided myself instead of signing others up. Total investment: $0.00
So to sum it all up, If you do your homework and don't mind spending some time and maybe a few bucks. Some of these places really do deliver what they promise.
Posted by Kinmar | July 10, 2007 2:24 PM