{"success":true,"data":{"id":"fake-survey-paid-participation-credential-harvest","label":"Fake paid survey / credential harvest scam — you have been selected for a paid survey + earn $500/$750 + provide credit card / SSN to verify age or pay membership fee","description":"Fake paid survey and credential-harvest scam — unsolicited emails telling the recipient they have been \"selected\" for an exclusive paid consumer survey promising implausibly large payouts ($300–$750) for 5–10 minutes of work. The hook is collecting payment credentials or PII rather than genuine market research: victims are asked to provide a credit card \"for age verification only\" (never charged), pay a $25–$49 \"premium membership fee\" to access high-paying surveys, or submit their Social Security Number \"for a background check\" to qualify. A common variant mimics Amazon, Walmart, or Google branding and promises a gift card reward in exchange for completing a short survey and paying a \"$1.99 shipping fee\" — a classic advance-fee setup. Legitimate paid research panels (Nielsen, Kantar, Ipsos, Prolific, SurveyMonkey) never require a credit card to join, never charge upfront fees, and never ask for an SSN as a qualification step. The FTC 2024 Consumer Sentinel reported \"prize, sweepstakes and lottery\" and \"online shopping/negative option\" scams — the categories these fall into — as the #1 and #3 most-reported fraud types. No legitimate $500 survey opportunity arrives as an unsolicited cold email.","tier":"danger","category":"phishing","isThin":false}}