The Consumerist reports today on a scam disguised as an innocent looking IQ test on the social networking site Facebook. When you complete the test it asks for your cell phone number, ostensibly to send you the test results via a text message. At the bottom of the screen, probably only visible if you scroll down to find it, is a large block of nearly microscopic fine print that reads:
Summary of Terms
Welcome to the Official Mobile IQ Quiz! After completing the mobile quiz, we will calculate your score and ask you to enter your cell phone number to gain access to your IQ results as well as a mobile content subscription. Depending on your carrier and cell phone manufacturer, the mobile content may include ringtones, games, wallpapers, or fun text messages. This content will cost as much as $19.99 per month and will be sent to your cell. If you would not like to sign up for the subscription content to your phone to see your results, simply click the Get Results link on the cell phone entry page to view how you did!
They take advantage of the reader’s expectation that the page is just another online quiz, and our habit of glossing over fine print or ignoring it altogether, to stick people with a $20 per month subscription to cell phone junk. These sorts of things appear on your cell phone bill and are often difficult to unsubscribe from, if you even notice it’s happening. Good luck ever getting your money back if you don’t figure it out right away.
The take away lesson here is that you should always be aware of fine print online, especially when being asked to divulge personal information such as your phone number or email address. Privacy policies often exist to disclose that you have no privacy. Worse, criminal phishers who try to trick you into revealing information such as bank account details don’t presume to legality and have no use for privacy policies, just as muggers have no impulse to make their victims sign personal injury waivers.
Be careful out there, and be aware of the ramifications of giving information away. Just like in the movie, WarGames, the only way to win this IQ test is to not play. Read the Consumerist article here.
{ 1 comment }
Thanks for this warning. My husband had something similar happen recently, although we still have no idea how it happened. But in looking at our cell phone bill, I noticed that it was about $20 more than usual. The details showed a $19.99 charge for a subscription ringtone service that neither of us had signed up for. I was able to have them reverse the charge by adding a web blocker to his phone but he never uses the internet on his phone, so I have no idea how it got on there.
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