Survey Scammers Jump on the Google+ Bandwagon

Scammers are looking to profit from the Google+ buzz and are luring users to rogue surveys with promises of free invites to the new social networking platform.

Since Google+ launched at the beginning of this month it has experienced extraordinary growth and has already reached around ten million users.

The ability to invite people to the network has been available on and off through different methods and the demand for invites has been extremely high for a while.

Google has opened invitations officially a few days ago, but many users who are still not aware of this might be willing to jump through hoops in order to get one.

According to security researchers from Trend Micro, this is exactly what scammers are hoping for.

"We haven’t found any threats within Google+, however we’ve recently encountered a website that leverages the recent demand for Google+ invites, despite the network now being open to everyone.

"The site claims to offer downloadable invites. Trying to download an invite leads to a list of surveys that the user must answer in order to get the invite," they warn.

In addition to filling in a survey to obtain an invitation, users are offered the option to pay for one. If they opt for the survey, people are warned with a ban if they don't provide valid information.

It looks like scammers are taking every precaution to make sure that either way they will get paid for leading a victim to the page. Correctly filled in surveys earn them commission money through affiliate marketing schemes.

Furthermore, these surveys are usually a way to subscribe users to premium rate services that are billed on their mobile phones, which seems to also be the end goal in this scam also.

"This scheme does not lead to the user getting a Google+ invite, only unnecessary charges to their phone bill, as the text at the bottom of the site implies that entering their mobile numbers will subscribe users to certain clubs, which will charge them specific amounts on a daily basis," the Trend Micro researchers warn.