Possible scam from Harbor Freight

[Dr.Jeff]

A long time ago I signed up for the Harbor Freight emails to see their ads. They send out emails all the time. This weekend I received one that is offering a chance to win a prize if you complete a customer satisfaction survey. I think it is intended to enter you in a drawing after you respond to the survey. The email came from the correct HF address and everything about it appears legit. However my virus protection software blocked it. After viewing the message again I think it is a scam, but it was very well done (unlike most that are extremely obvious). So I wanted to make mention of it in case others get the same email and their virus protection might not pick it up.

 

[carl]

I hate customer satisfaction surveys and avoid them like the plague.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Agreed. Lately it seems I've been getting more of them than usual.

Out of curiosity I went back and looked closer at the email in question. When I re-read the wording more carefully there was one thing that made it more apparent it's a scam. Initially I thought it said completing the survey gives you a chance to win the prize, but what it actually said was completing the survey wins the prize. The reason my first impression was for a 'chance to win' was due to the size of the prize - some sort of small pressure washer unit. Clearly that isn't something they will automatically give away to everyone that completes a survey. Otherwise the entire message looks to be completely legit, including the address it came from. I don't know anything about how hackers work, but I believe it was created from a valid message and somehow linked to their own work in the background.