No Such Thing as Free Gas Online

In the latest blog post from SiteAdvisor, they look at the search term “free gas cards”, as gas prices increase, these type of search terms will be used more and more.

Many people turn to the Web for help and find plenty of sites offering “free gas cards” for $500, $1000, even $1,500. But it’s a search that could leave you with computer indigestion. In fact, search Google for “free gas” and your screen will be inundated with unsafe results. Six out of twenty first page results link to red sites for this recent search for “free gas.” And five of the top eight sponsored links go to red rated sites.

First, many free product sites use the allure of the “free offer” to encourage unsuspecting consumers to divulge their e-mail addresses. Once submitted, the address is provided to advertisers who inundate users’ inboxes with solicitations. We know because we’ve signed up at each of these sites with unique, one-time-use e-mail addresses, then tracked the results.

Some consumers might accept an inbox full of spammy e-mail in exchange for $500 or $1000 in gas coupons. But the unfortunate truth is that the vast majority of consumers will never successfully complete the requirements to collect the gas card. Source: Fill’er up with Spammy Email

In the example they use, the website shopherefree.net, never actually lets you get to the point where you can claim your free gas card. They jumped through all of the hoops they could, and still did not get to the point where they could get their gas card, what happened you ask? When they clicked “Click Here (to) complete the sponsor’s requirement”, the website forwarded them to Everyfreegift.com and an affiliate offer where, you guessed it, you have to fill in your email address and complete some more “offers” where you have to jump through hoops to get a gas card. One site, brandsurveypanel.com, spammed the email address they signed up with, with 361 emails a week!

No thanks, I think I’ll stick to actually paying for my gas, even though my Dodge Ram loves it, I think I’ll be happier this way.

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