Guess This Is How They Pay The iPod Bill

from the do-I-still-get-my-DVD-player? dept

We’ve chronicled the rise of all these companies giving people free iPods or other items in exchange for signing up for various services, and noted that even if they’re not outright scams, they’re pretty shady. The end result of most of them is an onslaught of spam and marketing offers, which isn’t surprising. But New York’s attorney general has sued one of the free-iPod companies for “the largest deliberate breach of privacy in Internet history” (he’s never one for understatement, that Eliot Spitzer), alleging it sold people’s email addresses despite having a privacy policy that said it wouldn’t. Wow, so the people behind a too-good-to-be-true offer weren’t too good. Is that very surprising?


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Comments on “Guess This Is How They Pay The iPod Bill”

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34 Comments
icepick314 says:

Re: Re:

I heard that few does work…if you’re willing to give up information…not just your own but others you know….

if you are willing to give up some time and clicks, and if you’re brave enough to risk giving up your address and your phone number as well….

me…i make decent enough money so i don’t need free iPod…it’s more fun to save up and buy stuff on your own….

Anonymous Coward says:

People give out their real information?

I got my free ipod this way signing up friends. But I went to out and snagged them all some junke email accounts to sign up with because, well, I’m not a complete moron. People are giving out their real email addresses to these things? Seems like a waste of time to go after these guys when it’s so much easier to simply protect yourself.

Granted you’re pretty much stuck giving them a real address, since they need the billing address of your credit card. But I’ve never had a problem receiving real mail, I’ve helped 3 people get free ipods, and no one I’ve ever talked to has had a problem.

Moral of the story: If you have half a brain it’s pretty easy to scam a free ipod out of these guys without giving up personal information.

Joe (user link) says:

It took me a year!!

It took me a year but I did all the requirements to get me some free iPod goodness… BUT because one of the people on my list was my mother in law who i helped fill out her form, as she was very excited to get her own free ipod, anyways.. they disqualified me for that.. granted they are still taking referals on my account (i have like 2.5 times the requiremnts now, my site got real popular) but they will not give me a free ipod!

So i cal Bull S&%t!!

Joe

DWBjr (user link) says:

FreeIpods.com & RetailReportCard

Ridiculous services. I signed up with a unique e-mail alias/forward I gave to each of them. It’s interesting the amount of manipulative BS that they pump through these addresses… as if I don’t know its them. I feel sorry for the people that think they’re going to actually signup and get paid to do “secret shopper”. Doh. And now… nothing up my sleeve… *BLOCK FAKE-ASS ALIAS.* –Yeah, that was hard.

ash says:

just google it. i dont think its a good idea to even try this. i tried ages ago and im still getting emails from random addresses which they create so when you block one address they send off another so you have to block that. im 16 and iv been getting junk mail through my letter box for about a year now and theres nothing i can do 🙁

Dosen`t Matter says:

I don`t care

I really don`t care about them having my personal info as long as its not a credit card. Its just the credit card part I don`t like. But if someone told me they would give me a free Ipod for all my info except credit card and they would sell it to spam companys I woulden`t care. Telemarketers: just hang up, Junk e-mail just press the junk button, Junk normal mail: I do have a garbage bin so I really don`t care. Plus I could use my junk email account instead of my main one it takes like 2 minites to make a spare email account. If there is a site saying that tell me about it.

Dave says:

A great guide for getting a free iPod was made by Dave Johnson. This guide includes comprehensive information on how to get a free iPod, proof about free iPods, step-by-step instructions on getting a free iPod.
Check it out at http://freeipodguide.i8.com

Dave’s Free iPod Guide
Comprehensive Guide/Proof to getting your FREE iPod! Includes a Conga Line.
The site includes a brand new conga line!

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