Beware of Bogus Customer Surveys in Phishing Emails

There is a recent increase of surveys being emailed, but some are merely phishing emails trying to trick you into collecting reward points. Some are receiving emails with subject lines including:

“Your Reward Points are Expiring. Claim Now!” or “Your eBalance Points are Expiring Soon!” The email uses the name of a well-known store, with many brands being impersonated. You are a frequent shopper at the store, so you click to open the message. The email says that you’ve been selected to complete a survey about your recent customer experience. Finish the questionnaire, says the email, and you will receive $100 or more in “bonus-points.” The link may lead to a real survey, which upon completion, prompts you to purchase questionable products such as diet pills or wrinkle cream. Some have forms requesting banking and credit card info, while others contain links that if clicked on will download malware to your computer.

You absolutely don't want to click on these emails but how differentiate those from real emails? The BBB gives you info about how to spot a bogus email.