BLOG: Bogus Best Buy Gift Card Prize
By Jim Donovan: Sorry to break the news to you, but if you get a text message saying that you've won a $1,000 Best Buy gift card, you really haven't won anything and you could end up being the victim of a scam.
I've hear about texts like this all the time, but since one of our loyal CBS 3 viewers alerted me that her husband received a text this week I figured it was worth mentioning.
In this case the text says, "Your entry last month has WON! Go to BestBuyWin.net and enter your winning code 5555 to claim your free $1,000 Best Buy gift card within 24 hours."
Best Buy's corporate office has repeatedly said that people who get text messages telling them they've won a gift card and referring them to a website should disregard the message because it's a scam.
In fact you should always be cautious in visiting websites that you're referred to from unsolicited text messages. There could be a virus or spyware lurking, or they could be trying to trick you into signing up for something.
When I logged onto the site mentioned in this recent text the site indicated that they may sell, brand or share your personal information that you supply with other 3rd party businesses so they can bring selected retail opportunities via direct mail, e-mail, SMS text messaging, telemarketing, pre-recorded messages, or automated attendant telemarketing.
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