We’ve all taken those brief surveys where you get a $10 gift card for a movie theater or a BOGO coupon for Chipotle. But what about a free $325 Yeti cooler for taking a Dick’s Sporting Goods survey? Sounds like a steal, right? That was the latest strategy implemented by a new email scam that hooked people in and stole their information.
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What made this specific email scam special was the fact that it was able to reach many people by getting around Gmail’s spam filter, which exposed more people to this type of scam than usual. Luckily, whether it’s a Yeti cooler or AirPods headphones that’s being showcased, there are some simple ways to not fall prey to these type of scams.
How did the Yeti cooler scam work?
The email used an advanced coding technique to fool Gmail’s spam filter into thinking it was a legit email with important information. Then it asked people to take a survey that asked for your sensitive information, and finally asked you to input your credit card information to pay for the cooler’s shipping.
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That’s why you should never rely on spam filters to do the work for you—instead, arm yourself with some tools to identify these kinds of scams. As Dick’s Sporting Goods warns in their security alert, the goal of the scammers is collecting your sensitive information for monetary gain.
