Beware of the Oprah E-mail Scam
If you've been the recipient of an e-mail that claims to give you a free trip to 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' don't click so fast. You might be looking at a scam. Admittedly it's a legal one and something that won't necessarily result in you losing your nest egg or all your personal info, but a scam nonetheless.
The e-mail claims that if you complete a simple survey you'll be the recipient of a $1,200 package including airfare, hotel, and tickets to Oprah's show (promising, in big type, that you'll "be a part of the show!"). But click on through and you'll find that the survey is actually a whopping 50 pages long. Only after you complete the opus are you told that in order to be eligible for the travel package, you need to also pay for one or more magazine subscriptions and agree to a host of other marketing promotions. So there's really nothing free about it. And despite Oprah's picture being featured prominently in the deal, this deal has nothing to do with Ms. Winfrey (who, for the record, gives away tickets to her show for free). In fact, Oprah's company, Harpo Productions, has asked the company responsible for this "deal" to remove all pictures and references to Oprah Winfrey.
We found the same "deal" for 'The Ellen Show' as well, along with of course a whole raft of similar sounding promotions for free things ranging from iPods to Xbox 360s. It should go without saying at this point that some old adages apply, even in modern times: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
From New York Post
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