Watch out for this tricky scam that shows up right in your Facebook account.
Today my wife asked me about the IQ test I took on Facebook. Not remembering ever taking this test, I looked on her home page. A link showed the IQ results of me and one of her other friends. I simply figured I had taken this test years ago and simply forgotten about it.
Trying to beat my score, my wife answered all of the questions on the quiz and clicked the button to grade her answers. She was required to enter her cell phone number and carrier prior to receiving her results. Being skeptical, she looked around and noticed she was no longer on Facebook.com. She also found the fine print….
If she would have entered her cell phone number she would have agreed to pay $19.99 for this monthly “quiz” service. I’m so glad my wife was smart enough to never enter her cell phone number!
So keep your eyes out for this trick and others like it. They can pull your friend info from your account and use it to customize their advertisements. They can even include profile pictures from your closest friends to try and grab your attention.
Happy surfing and watch out!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:13 am
The same thing happened to me. It was late at night I was very tired and I entered my cellphone number to see the IQ test result, as a result they stole 5 EURO from me, 2.50 for the subscription and 2.50 to unsubscribe, the result of the IQ test was never shown (I must have IQ minus 150!). I never liked Facebook, it just proves I am right.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
We at Mobile Messenger would like to assist you with your concern or complaint. If you need assistance in regards to being unsubscribed or other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please call 1-866-390-6184 Monday to Friday 0600 – 1800 US Pacific Time or email blog@sms-helpdesk.com
Sandra
MOBILE MESSENGER
June 9th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Same thing happened to me. When I was entering the phone number, I don’t recall seeing any agreement to pay anything. Either that, or it was “finely” printed. Total fraudulent way to do business and rip people off. I’m out 2 x 9.99 and had to call them to remove my number from their billing system. Wasted my time and money. I have reported these to SpyBot and Microsoft for consideration as spam or adware.
June 12th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
My best gal fell for it too. 4 times. She got frustrated and tried it again and again. Each time $9.99.
Moral of the story: Read the fine print if you don’t know who you’re dealing with.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:39 am
Its scary that people sign up for these scam programs. You have to be a little dumb if you sign up for a $9.95 per month mobile billing service to get the results of your 5 question IQ test.
Unfortunately, a lot of people do it! –> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dumb-IQ/166690143771