Everyone wants to be a winner. The word free is an instant eye catcher. You can go on the computer anytime, and see how advertising, is using this information, to get your precious information.

Click here you have won a laptop! Click here you won a digital camera! Every time you go online there are these flashing banners urging you to click, and win. What do they want? Why are they giving away expensive stuff? What do they get in return? The few I checked out, the ad says click here for a digital camera. I clicked, and a screen came up asking for all my information. That in itself is a red flag. With all the identity theft, it’s imperative you know who you are giving your information to, and what they are going to do with it. In reading the fine print, you don’t get a free camera, just because they are giving them away, when you fill out the information you are actually filling out an application for a Discover card. To me it felt like a bait and switch, they offer you one thing, and really are giving you another. Time and again I have heard that these gift offers are just scams. One site said that when they sign up they even had to pay to get their gift. It makes one wonder why a company like Discover, Cannon, and many others would do such shady advertising.

What is worse is people like my elderly mother in law get on the internet, they are not tech savvy, and they click these banners and end up victimized by them. They end up ordering magazines, and books, any number of things that they don’t want, and when they arrive, don’t even know why. Children are another reason that these companies shouldn’t do this. Children see they can get anything free, they may give away their parents information and the parent wouldn’t even be aware. That is why it’s so important, to communicate with your kids that the internet is not the place you give any of your information away. Is there no regulation regarding these types of tactics? I have told my kids and mother in law, to not click any banners. If companies use this type of advertising, they have lost my business.

The internet is a wonderful place, but it’s important to be very careful what you click, the gift give always are usually a scam to get your information, or have you sign up for things you don’t even want in the first place. I think the solution to this problem is to report it to Yahoo, or any of the other places you frequent. The best way to tell these companies you don’t appreciate these tactics is to write the companies and tell them so. If enough of us become proactive, maybe the days of these annoying flashing banners will come to an end. Until that actually happens however, don’t click anything. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.