{"id":722,"date":"2026-05-22T11:33:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/?p=722"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:50:16","slug":"if-its-free-youre-the-product-free-stuff-scam-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/2026\/05\/22\/if-its-free-youre-the-product-free-stuff-scam-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"If It\u2019s Free, You\u2019re the Product: Free Stuff Scam Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Free gift cards, giveaways, event tickets, and online prizes are everywhere. Some are legitimate promotions. Many are scams designed to collect personal information, account credentials, or financial details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is an old saying online: if you are not buying the product, you are probably the product. Scammers rely on that exact idea. The \u201cfree\u201d offer is often just a way to collect your data, steal credentials, or direct you to malicious websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How These Scams Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Free stuff scams often promise rewards for completing a survey, clicking a link, downloading an app, or sharing personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some scams are designed to collect login credentials or payment information. Others install malware or direct users to fake websites that imitate trusted brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common Warning Signs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pressure and Urgency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Scam offers often claim the deal expires soon or that only a limited number of rewards remain available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Suspicious Links and Websites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The message may contain spelling errors, unusual URLs, or requests for unnecessary personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Requests for Payment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Legitimate free offers rarely ask for payment details to cover shipping, processing, or verification fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Protective Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To avoid free stuff scams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Verify promotions through official company websites.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid clicking suspicious links from texts, emails, or social media posts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Never provide passwords or MFA codes for promotional offers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be cautious of offers that sound too good to be true.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Research unfamiliar websites before entering personal information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If You Entered Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you shared passwords or financial information, change your passwords immediately and monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. If the scam involved a work or school account, contact your IT help desk as soon as possible. You can find contact information for your campus help desk here: <a href=\"https:\/\/kb.wisc.edu\/helpdesk\/5427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Universities of Wisconsin (UW System) &#8211; IT Help Desks Contact Information<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free gift cards, giveaways, event tickets, and online prizes are everywhere. Some are legitimate promotions. Many are scams designed to collect personal information, account credentials, or financial details. There is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,21,27,25,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-staff-awareness","category-phishing","category-scam-awareness","category-social-engineering","category-student-safety"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 23:51:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":738,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/information-security\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}