1: TapJoy
There is an offer on TapJoy for 29 swagbucks, "Download the Yahoo Toolbar and get 29 Swag Bucks!". This offer is a perfect example of why you MUST always read the fine print, if they bother providing any. Check it out ...
The requirements state that if you already have the Yahoo Toolbar installed, you will be offered the Simppull Toolbar to download instead, in order to be able to complete the offer. Hmm nice to be offered an alternative, right? Well I dunno.. Let's do a swag search on the Simppull Toolbar first, Just In Case!
Woah there Nelly! I see a lot of results inferring that the Simppull Toolbar is Malware. FORGET THAT! Nope, Nuh Uh, No Way. (Sorry had a Huckleberry Pie / Strawberry Shortcake flashback for a second there.)
VERDICT : Don't Do It!
Always, Always pay attention to the offer requirements, and Always research downloads you aren't familiar with. Ok, Really, if you want to be safe, just avoid downloads all together!! If you are just too tempted though, always do your research, and always have good virus software running first.
2: Gambit
This one isn't a bad offer due to virus. It's a bad offer because the requirements are NOT CORRECT. It's similar to the Gambit offers I keep spotlighting, except instead of entering your email "for swagbucks" you download the toolbar. That's it, that's all the requirements say. Download and install toolbar, reports on a 15 minute delay. Free tab.
I opened Internet Explorer for this one. It downloaded fine, checked out OK with my uber virus software. All seemed like a GO until I got to this....
Last Step? Complete the offer below? Are you kidding? Hey, this looks Awfully Familiar...
If you read the other posts with Gambit offers that require things like Submitting Email but in reality are "Silver, Gold, Platinum Offer" deals, then this Does look familiar to you, and it should. It's the same deal.
These offers say FREE. They list requirements that do NOT include doing other offers- and I can pretty much promise without going through the steps that in the end, after the 12 offers you have to complete, you WILL end up spending money.
I gave it 24 hours to see if it would credit but of course, it has not. I downloaded and installed the toolbar, but did not complete the 12 offers. So *sigh* another inquiry to start. At least it's not Gambit. I haven't had to chew SR out for a while, maybe they will respond positively.
I give this offer a big ole "MEH!" rating. Don't bother doing it, it won't work without inquiry
2: Gambit
This one isn't a bad offer due to virus. It's a bad offer because the requirements are NOT CORRECT. It's similar to the Gambit offers I keep spotlighting, except instead of entering your email "for swagbucks" you download the toolbar. That's it, that's all the requirements say. Download and install toolbar, reports on a 15 minute delay. Free tab.
I opened Internet Explorer for this one. It downloaded fine, checked out OK with my uber virus software. All seemed like a GO until I got to this....
Last Step? Complete the offer below? Are you kidding? Hey, this looks Awfully Familiar...
If you read the other posts with Gambit offers that require things like Submitting Email but in reality are "Silver, Gold, Platinum Offer" deals, then this Does look familiar to you, and it should. It's the same deal.
These offers say FREE. They list requirements that do NOT include doing other offers- and I can pretty much promise without going through the steps that in the end, after the 12 offers you have to complete, you WILL end up spending money.
I gave it 24 hours to see if it would credit but of course, it has not. I downloaded and installed the toolbar, but did not complete the 12 offers. So *sigh* another inquiry to start. At least it's not Gambit. I haven't had to chew SR out for a while, maybe they will respond positively.
I give this offer a big ole "MEH!" rating. Don't bother doing it, it won't work without inquiry
3: TapJoy
This item is a 680 swagbucks offer from TapJoy for eMusic. You sign up for a 30 day free trial and get 50 free MP3 downloads.
This is one of those times I am really glad I use a prepaid gift card instead of a regular credit card. I filled out the sign up information, inputted my card information and clicked SIGN UP. Instead of being taken to a confirmation screen, or a further information screen, or even a denial screen, I was sent to a "Thank You! Please enjoy this Special Offer as our way of thanking you for joining,"
It was an offer to sign up for a 2 month free trial to 2 magazines, either People, Time, Sports Illustrated, or Entertainment Weekly. I recognized this offer as one I'd done for several hundred swagbucks a couple of months ago- but this wasn't through the special offers screen, I would get no swagbucks for signing up.
I could find no way to get off that page. No skip, No Thanks, pass buttons. No mention of eMusic by name anywhere on the page. Trapped. Dead end.
I tried to log into eMusic but could not, as I was never taken to a "create a password" screen. I checked my Visa gift card statement and sure enough, there was a pending charge.
PANIC! Started feeling a little sketchy there. Thank GOODNESS I use the gift card, no matter what it will not effect my credit if some scam has occured. That's what it felt like. A scam using the eMusic sign up as a front to get your credit card information.
First thing this morning I called eMusic to find out what was up. The customer service rep knew nothing about TapJoy, nothing about the magazine offer, stated that it couldn't have had anything to do with them. I explained (won't go into it now) how it must be embedded in the sign up form. Anyhoo, point is, apparently it was a valid attempt to authorize my credit card but was for some reason declined. It wasn't a matter of insufficient funds, they could not explain why it cancelled, but implied it was a glitch and would I like to try again.
No Thank You. Not on the phone, not for no swagbucks, and not with this kind of sketchy, shady stuff going on. The lady said she would forward the complaint to corporate to see what might be happening with TapJoy and the magazine offer.
I suppose this may or may not be a bad offer. I would suggest you stay away from it, despite the tempting 680 swagbucks. Something is not right. For one thing, whether I completed the offer or not with a successful sign up, there was NO RECORD of me even attempting the offer on TapJoy. No way for me to report any offer problems to them. eMusic couldn't even explain why I was denied, they have no explanation why I would be trapped in a magazine offer, and I still don't feel 100% sure some third party didn't grab the credit card number.
Gift card. Gift card.
I keep saying credit card but it's such an important difference. If you are using a real credit card for these offers, you really should switch to something like the Visa Go-Tag. It Covers Your A$$.
4: gWallet
 | |
| 5 outright Fails, 1 pending, probably gonna inquiry! |
2: Whitesmoke Writer failed when I first started SwagBucks. I inquiried it, was told to try again. Got mad and didn't bother. Now, several months later, I figure "What the Heck" and try agian. Download, install... FAIL! I know this is a fail without even trying to inquiry it because it says I have 0 days left on my free trial. So some system cookie knows that I already downloaded and installed it, and even though gWallet denied the inquiry before, so I never got my sb for it, I know if I inquiry it now, the answer will be that I didn't fulfill the requirements, or that I already completed this offer according to the ad company- Whitesmoke. Since I generally try to avoid things that I know are gonna TICK ME OFF, I am not even going to bother with an inquiry for this one. Since the first time I tried the offer was so long ago, I won't try to chase it down with SwagBucks either. But if you do try this one, and don't get credit, submit a ticket to the Contact Us link on the SwagBucks home page. Let's work within the system to improve it!
3: Helpful Tips to Improve Your Health was a simple Fail. It took me to an unrelated link, so I couldn't complete the offer. NICE! Inquiry to report!
5: Gambit
Ooh so excited! I'ma get a free Apply MacBook Pro!!! *waves her hands in the air with mock joy!* After you submit your email, you are taken to a "survey" screen.
Just about every special offer has a type of bogus survey. It's really a phishing tool, so they can spam your email with a ton of garbage offers. You have to fill it out if you want to get your swagbucks though. In the case of this offer, it's just a front for the real scam!
Notice it asks you for your cell phone number. Not just any phone number, your cell. Why? Because it wants to get you to sign up for ridiculous services that charge from $9.99 a month and up to your cell bill.
Right away, the first "offer" requries my cell number. Yah, Right. This one is a monthly charge of $50 and up, depending on what you sign up for I guess. OH MY GOSH you must be joking!
Oh, only 2 offers? I see two free trials right up top, but I already have Netflix, and I've already done a free trial with CreditReport.com, so I keep looking.
This looks like a good place to start. It's a free trial, so that qualifies technically as making this a free offer from Gambit.
I signed up for the free trial, ends in 7 days, with 25 free music downloads. Surfed around the site for just a few minutes to see what kind of music they have. Tons of good stuff! But very little of it available to download with the free 25 songs. Boo! Left it alone and went hunting for a second free trial offer. I know at this point that, given I need 2 offers, and I see 4 free ones listed (Netflix, CreditReport.com, American Credit, and eMusic), that by the strictest definition of FREE, I should be able to get my laptop, right? However, I don't buy it for a second. Two free trials will not get me a laptop, I just have to keep going to find out the trick! The scam!
This offer fails completely and with no shame! It says free trial, however you will be charged two times, one for $4.47 and one for $13.85, with a monthly charge after the first 30 days of your "free trial". NEXT!
This offer has no cute asterisk to warn you, but it is the same exact deal as the one above. $6.95 shipping. FAIL!!
This offer is again, NOT free. There is a $0.99 processing fee. Ok, let me try again. and again. And again. I did SEVERAL more attempts, but got tired of screenshots! Suffice to say they all failed because they ALL included some form of charge.
I really didn't want to have to sign up with another credit monitoring company, so I started searching for something that was at least Cheap, that I could easily cancel and get refunded. I landed on this.
I went ahead and signed up for this, it really was only $0.99, my plan being to send it back as soon as the package arrived. That's not a violation, I wouldn't do this for SwagBucks, but it's for a laptop!! ROFL
At this point I knew that technically, you could get two offers FREE, so maybe there was a shot. Maybe if I just do this @*%& offer I would get my laptop. I wasn't holding my breath though, there's just no way it could be that "easy"!
Once you have done your 2 offers, you are to click the button that says "Claim Your Free Gift!"
Ok, This is it! I'ma get my MacBook!!! *waves her hands in the air again in mock victory!*
Click.... DOH! Doh Doh Doh DOH DOH! I knew it! GRPH I knew it...
Nine More Offers? NINE? .... ......
I went through the pages of offers, it was all the same ones as the earlier step. Still only FOUR that are actually fully free trials.
FAIL!
There are only four free trials, so with this 9, that makes ELEVEN you are required to do. Even if you got the four free trials, and the other 7 were only $0.99 each, that's still $7 you'd be out. That is not free, not in MY universe!
Well, Well, Well. *church lady voice* Interesting!
There's the proof. The offer is not free, it needs to be taken off the free wall. As many times as I tried one of these 38 swagbuck "free" offers and got short snotty replies from Gambit that I had not fulfilled the requirements to get my "free" items and my swagbucks, I was more than ready to go to the inquiry screen and blast them. Politely if possible, but I was pretty fired up :P Good, I need to screenshot the inquiry process for the blog anyway *laugh*
This is Gambit's Offer Status screen. At the top it shows inquiries that have been closed, whether positive or negative. It's odd I see so few there, but now that I think about it, no it's not. I have opened inquiries that just went POOF, so there's no record of them up there. I can tell you though that of the 6 you see there, only one resulted in me getting credit. The rest were denied with the same form letter stating I did not fulfill the requirements despite ample proof to the contrary.
Below the Inbox it shows your "Offers in Progress". I have the one I just attempted, and one from August that I didn't inquiry. The reason I left that one alone is I had attempted it before, sent in an inquiry, got denied, and threatened with being banned from the wall. Somehow that inquiry is missing from the Inbox.. *church lady voice again * How Convenient!
See the question mark symbol to the far right in the screenshot above? That's what you click to start an inquiry. When you click that, it opens a screen with a lot of boxes to fill out. Name, email used for the offer, phone number used for the offer, address, a description of the problem with the offer, and a box for "proof" (not shown.)
I think it's funny they ask you for proof up front. First of all they decide to deny you despite your proof quite a large portion of the time, and then there's the fact that half they time, after they read your inquiry, they reply asking for the exact same types of proof I have submitted already in the initial "ticket".
Needless to say, Of Course I didn't get my swagbucks for submitting my email. I won't get swagbucks for the offer or inquiry because I'm not shelling out money for swagbucks, not on a dishonest deal that will involve me being signed up with 11 different monthly charges.
6: Several Different Walls
There are a couple of tempting offers on the special offer walls right now, for PageRage and Facemoods. One promises to spice up your profile (and has recently been approved and promoted by Facebook which would seem to lend it legitimacy), and the other promises to spice up your chat and messages with awesome emoticons.
They are tempting but- DON'T DO THEM!
PageRage will JACK UP your Facebook. You get large ads placed on your sidebars and in the middle of your walls. Some of these ads have sounds which you can not turn off. They constantly reload your page whether you are on that tab or not, they make your mouse flickery and unstable, and cause all sorts of other annoying, interfering havoc. The instability issues eventually creep into your browser (and I feel Very sorry for Internet Explorer users with this one) and cause errors and disruptions when using other sites. (I can NOT blog and have Facebook open right now.) The profiles look nice but it is NOT worth it.
Uninstalling this one can be tricky. Some people have no problem, but I have several layers of issues. First of all, the Yontoo Layers client didn't show up in my programs list. Had to track it down via Windows Explorer. Secondly, I can not uninstall it from the Control Panel or from Piriform's CCleaner because, get this, the INSTALL.LOG file is corrupted. I wrote to technical support and they gave me this long, convoluted list of procedures that had a 50/50 chance of working. I've decided on a system restore, but I can't do that until I have resolved an open inquiry with TapJoy. (Which may never be resolved as they STILL haven't responded to me.)
Just stay away from it, it is NOT worth the risk. I knew the risks heading in, I was only half motivated by the swagbucks. I also wanted to see how it worked and let you guys know. Well, I'm letting you know- STAY AWAY! BAD JUJU!
As for Facemoods, I basically had the same motivations with the added twist of Wild Hair. I wanted to see these emoticons in action and decided to take the risk lol. It's not nearly as bad as PageRage, but it CAN post spam if you don't watch it carefully. It DOES wig out your Facebook posts: It can get "hung" loading the facemoods stuff so when you go to press Share or Comment, nothing happens. It causes Facebook to freeze up. So, More Bad Juju.
7: SuperRewards
This is another one of those where the requirements say one thing, but the advertiser actually expects another, so they never tell the offer company you completed it. It's a different version of the same type I have posted about several times.
This is on SuperRewards, "Get in the game with Sweet Daily Deals!" for 9 swagbucks. Usually these trick offers are for much more, so I was surprised when this one went down the same old path.
All you are supposed to have to do is fill out the first page with valid information, signing up for the Sweet Daily Deals site / newsletter.
Seems easy enough! Fill out that page, press continue, and TECHNICALLY that should be all you need.
The first warning sign was when no confirmation email showed up. I'd stayed on this page for a bit, but I figured I must have to get to the "end of the offer path" before they would send that email. So I went ahead and started in on the radial buttons!
Here's a tip for getting through those annoying buttons. Click NO on the first one, then press ALT & Down Arrow over and over and over until it's selected NO all the way down the page. Saves SO much time!
After 6 pages of buttons, 10 pages of "complete the survey below" pages (which you press SKIP to get through), I hit the dead end (and I didn't see it coming this time!)
SCREEEEEEECH! Halt! What? Complete silver, gold, and platinum offers? I'm confused!?! I thought this was for a website or a newsletter, not an offer to get a "free iPad" or Macbook or whatever!
Needless to say I stopped right there and checked my email. No confirmation, and no swagbucks. Time to write an inquiry! Ugh! I have to write them to tell them exactly what the offer requirements are, note that there is nothing which says a confirmation email is actually needed, and they need to get in touch with the advertiser about the actual payout terms for the offer.
8: Other Offers
There are several offers that use the Picmorph toolbar. This is a mega malware / adware alert. Avoid any that require you to download a toolbar for things like making your self a zombie, or a vampire, or the one with "Hot or Not' in the title. Bug time virus software alerts. Bad Juju!
