With the holidays here I thought this would be a good subject to touch one. Not only is it great information to have while you’re doing a lot of your shopping online but there’s been quite a bit of freebies being offered! There are a lot of companies who offer Free Stuff in exchange for liking them on Facebook, giving them your email address or mailing information. There are a TON of freebies that I do not post about because the site looks fishy or because the company isn’t reputable enough to not sell your personal information to other companies. I really do my best to make sure I post real deals from companies that have a “personal information” disclaimer.
However, we will still run into dis-honest companies or phising schemes designed to get your information. This is why knowing how to be safe with your info is VERY important.
Mailing Address:
You will only need to enter in this information if a free sample is being sent. This is a necessary piece of information that you will be asked to give. If you don’t feel comforable giving this information out you could look into a PO Box or just opt to not sign up.
Phone Number:
Many times there will be a number field that isn’t required to submit for the offer. If it isn’t required, leave it blank. If it is, you can create a Free internet phone number that’s available from Google Voice, and apps like FreedomPop, TextNow, and TextFree. Note that many big companies offer text deals so often with companies I shop often, I’ll enter my real number when prompted.
Email Addresses:
If you would like to get emails from the company in the future, use your real email address. If you do not, or don’t like all of the email you get from companies- create a Free email account you use just for free offers. Hotmail, Yahoo!, MSN, Gmail…they all offer free email accounts to use!
Birthday:
I will only enter my real birthday if it is for a HUGE corporation that wants to reward me on my Birthday. For example, I entered my real birthday on Chain Restaurants to get free food and also on Disney Movie Rewards to get a Free DVD on my sign up anniversary date. For the rest of the offers, I wouldn’t recommend putting in your real birthday information.
Scams:
Like I said earlier, I try my very hardest to only link you guys to legitimate offers. But in case you do get a funny phone call or email asking for personal sign in information, bank information or social security information…DO NOT give that out. It may seem like an obvious thing. But, many people give that information out without even thinking.
Please be careful with other deal sites you visit as well. Not all screen the offers they post. So you could be giving your information to a “fake” offer and start receiving a lot of junk email. Just be smart and use your intuition. If it seems “off”, then it probably is!
