How to Avoid Getting Scammed by Unethical Digital Marketers
Raise your hand if you get calls or email nearly every day from someone claiming to be able to help you with your “Google listing” or warn you that your website is full of errors?
This is our job, and we also get these contacts!
While most are simply annoying, there are some unethical people who are scraping for your credit card information and will try anything they can to make you afraid and pay them to fix it.
Recently, one of our clients was contacted by “someone at Google” who convinced her to pay them $5 to fix their Google listing. Yep, her credit card was stolen.
Another client received an email that talked about their domain name and looked legitimate with the logo of the company. However, when we reached out to the company, they told us that it was fake.
To avoid getting scammed by so-called digital marketers we suggest the following tips:
Tip #1: When you are working with InSync Media, we will always let you know exactly what we need you to do with your online listings and website. If you are confused about what we are asking we are more than willing to answer an email, schedule a call or video chat and figure out what is going on.
Tip #2: If someone reaches out to you from Google or another business that you are using like GoDaddy, you can always get their name and phone number and then call the company to verify that they are the actual people you need to speak to.
Tip #3: If someone is reaching out to you via email in regards to your account that deals with your website, hosting, domain name etc. and they are talking about renewing, updating, or security issues it is always best to not click on any links and go to that company’s website and verify that they sent you that email.
Tip #4: We deal with these types of issues all day everyday so if there is something that is foreign to you we are always happy to provide more information or to find a guide for you to use that will walk you through step by step. You don’t have to go through this alone, and we are here to work alongside you.
If you think that someone is trying to spam you or you might have clicked on a bad link or you gave our your credit card information to the wrong person, you can take your own measures to secure your computer, email account, and credit card. If you are worried that something like this has happened you can reach out to us and we can let you know what we are working on and where we are at in your project to help you make smart choices.
If someone is legitimately trying to help you, normally they won’t mind a second call or rescheduling so that you can verify their identity and who they work for. If someone is trying to spam you they want to put you in a high pressure situation so that you make decisions quickly.