Shopping Scam or Not?

By 96 commentsCategory: FixMeStick BlogTags:

Test your knowledge of what’s real and what’s a scam to see how #CyberAware you are! 

Shopping Scam or Not?

See if you can score a pass! Some answers are partially correct so try to choose the best answer for each case.

Comment your score below!

96 comments

  1. Eric van der Holt -

    Unable to deal with the quiz because the example is too small to be readable.

  3. John Pettipas -

    Can not read the God Damn thing so how can you answer yes or no. What kind of quiz is this ?
    Come on get real. Most of us need to be able to read the message.

  4. Donna Fleming -

    This would have been helpful if the signs of fraud or legitimacy were pointed out, otherwise nothing is learned. 100%? I’m either knowledgeable about scams or I’m a good guesser. Some of the screen shots had print so small it was unreadable, so some of my answers were guesses. This fell way short of the learning experience I was hoping for.

  5. Sandy -

    Great quiz – makes you think carefully!

    Would be more educational however if after each answer a few points indicating what makes it true or false would be helpful.

  7. FixMeStick -

    Hey there Eric, John, and other reader, we’re sorry to hear this! We’re working on a fix but in the meantime if you’d like to retake it we’ve added instructions on how you can zoom your computer screen using your keyboard!

  10. Laurel Tallosi -

    I think it was a good thing to help us see which ones are scams and which ones weren’t. Thank you!!!

  13. Cathy Tompkins -

    Although the printing was very small, with the help of a magnifying glass I could read them, and it would have helped to have the things pointed out that made it spam or legit. Some of them look so real, and if you haven’t seen the legit ones several times before it would be easy to be taken in. The one I got wrong was one I had never seen before so had to guess!

  19. Roge (A.K.A. "ICE") -

    I got 100% easily, but then I am very deep into Programming, So I am more then just a normal or a typical user, BUT I DO WANT TO ADD A LITTLE MORE TO YOUR ANSWER TO THE 1st QUESTION,,,
    Your answer was, “Windows does not contact its customers through pop-up messages. Turning off your computer cannot result in the loss of your data so if you see this message, close your internet browser by clicking CTRL + ALT + DEL on your keyboard and navigating to the Task Manager.”
    IT’s TRUE If one Shuts off or even unplugging a PC from the electricity they will not lose anything that they have already save on their PC, But if they were typing in wordpad or notepad or working on pictures in ms-paint they they will lose it if it is not saved, Now there is a Program I have that is like a sticky notepad, anything typed in it stays in it till the user removes it, I’ve hat that program for almost 20 yrs now an it keeps all text in it even if the power goes out the text that was typed in it will be there when the power comes back on, T little program is called “FORGOT – IT” it works extremely well,
    Now as for using the Task Manager that works & is better then waiting for the PC slowly shut down & then the slow Shutdown & the Slow Start for most PC’s & many people are very addicted to the internet, However you did not say anything about how different browsers work with the Task Manager, In Internet Explorer (IE) the Task Manager may work easily & fast with just 1 click, But with Mozilla Firefox when you open Task Manager there is a list of Mozilla items in the Task Manager, ending task on 1 might not shut all the open Mozilla items down, It could be a lucky shot to hit the right one & end up shutting the right one down that is connected to that Microcrap/Micro$#!t (Microsoft) Warning page or the 1 that will shut all open Mozilla item down, I’ve had to click a few to end up finally clicking the 1 that closes all open Mozilla items even though I usually have a lot less Mozilla windows open then it shows in the Task Manager, I use to get that pop up a lot I ended up getting a good blocker that actually blocked the sites when any site popped up that I didn’t want to see or have pop up anymore, Now instead of seeing sites that I don’t want to see I get a funny pic that says opps somethings wrong with people scratching their chin or with 1 eye squinting an other eyebrow raised or a pug looking at a pie on a table, It’s a great blocker, Its on mt small laptop that just had its video graphics card crap out so now the screen is to dark to see unless I plug in an external monitor but I need the monitor for my new Desktop PC, Not sure what the blocker was called I’ll hook it up later & try to get its name an where I got it from,,, And Yes it was FREE & Works Great….

  20. Ruth S -

    to improve this test, you could add things like ….
    why your answer was correct. Or why your answer was wrong.
    Things to look for in the future when we get pop ups.
    Thanks for this test, I look forward to seeing more.

  23. FixMeStick -

    Hey there, sounds like your digital literacy is on point, good job!

  25. FixMeStick -

    Hey there Wayne, sounds like you have some great digital literacy skills!

  29. FixMeStick -

    Hey there Roge, thanks for partaking in our quiz and sharing those insights here! Another free and good adblocker to prevent those pesky popups is called AdBlock. Just make sure you choose the right one for your browser, you can get it here: https://adblockplus.org/

  30. Wayne -

    Excellent tool to review potential scams. One cannot be too careful! Thanks fix me stick…

  32. Julia Lind -

    I took it and had all correct. The reason I’m aware is because I was scammed and it taught me I can’t believe everything.

  33. Terry -

    Hello!

    The links provided are helpful, but as the quiz taker stated, “Would be more educational however if after each answer a few points indicating what makes it true or false would be helpful.” and I strongly agree.

    TLW

  34. Lorraine -

    Great survey some were hard to read but really a eye opener thanks for putting the quiz out there

  35. BP -

    Got 6 out of 7, but have been caught in the past and as recently as September. But it was credit card.

  36. William (Bill) Stanzeleit -

    I agree with earlier comments. No matter how much I increase the size of my screen, your examples are very difficult to see

  38. Cecelia Wankel -

    The first page is a scam because it is so small…if you mark scam and then “next” it will go to the next page…

  39. EricC -

    On a Mac it was easy to enlarge the screen shots but it would be easier to take the test if you could eliminate that step.

  40. David Stiver -

    If you have spent much time at all on the internet you should by be able to identify a scam without reading the wording.

  41. Laraine Hartley -

    Most definitely. I could not read the words on the screen so was forced just to guess without any written material to refer to. I attempted to enlarge it but it would not increase in size.

  43. Keegan Anfield -

    Glad you liked it Wayne! We’ll be sure to do more content like this.

  45. Keegan Anfield -

    Great job! Scams are designed to trick the best of us. Good that you learned from it though. Plus with FixMeStick you have double the security now!

  47. Keegan Anfield -

    You’re welcome Lorraine! Thanks for taking the time to do it. We’ll be sure to do similar quizzes in the future.

  48. Keegan Anfield -

    Wow! Great job. It’s scary how careful you need to be now.

  49. Keegan Anfield -

    Sorry about that William. We’re working to improve this for the next quiz.

  52. Keegan Anfield -

    Hey Eric, we agree! We’re working on a solution for the next quiz. Be sure to stay tuned.

  53. Keegan Anfield -

    Unfortunately, scams are getting more and more legitimate looking which can make it more and more difficult to recognize the real from the fake.

  56. Donna -

    The magnifier worked for me. However, I don’t ever click on links in an email. At the end of the quiz, it wanted you to click a link for McAfee. I don’t trust that either.

  57. Marty Boles -

    I am very interested in the fixmestick but only have 1 computer so would price be the same?

  58. Sandra -

    This was a great quiz! I scored 6/7 so I need to brush up my skills a little. We need help to spot these tricks because I e been scammed before. Thanks for the quiz!

  59. JAMES THOMAS -

    BEEN SCAM TO MANY TIMES OVER THE PHONE SO I GOT A GOOD IDEA SO I TREAT EVERYONE AS A SCAMMER

  61. Gayle Cooper -

    I got a perfect score. What’s my prize? Besides a very secure computer that is.
    GG

  63. C Coe -

    Quizzes like this are frequently scam, so I wasn’t sure to take this one.

  66. Janet B -

    I got 100% , not a computer programmer just an Accountant , with a very suspicious mind.

    Read the screen carefully all the clues are there.

  67. Cindy -

    Got 100%! As for being able to read everything, yes, some was too fine print to read, however, the indicators of real or scam, were found in the large print anyways.
    I credit my score to Winston Sih, on BTToronto, as he does segments on high tech, and offers a lot of security tips 🙂

  68. Keegan Anfield -

    Hey Donna! You do need to be careful what you click on but you can always trust links we send you.

  70. Keegan Anfield -

    Good job Janet! Great tip to read the screen carefully.

  71. Keegan Anfield -

    Sorry about that Domenick. You can zoom in on your phone to see it better.

  72. Keegan Anfield -

    You can always trust when FixMeStick sends you something.

  77. Keegan Anfield -

    Hi Marty, yes the price is the same. Our 30 day trial and Home FixMeStick are each good for 3 computers. You could run it on a friend or family member’s computer.

  79. Terry Boyer -

    I had a hard time reading it also. but gave it my best shot.

  82. William M -

    By-the-way, I too got a 100% on the quiz. Now, I’m very careful with these third party technical support companies.

  83. Michael Marks -

    I’ve run FixMeStick a dozen times or so, only none time did the scan find a virus, must either be lucky I suppose or I’m detecting suspicious scans myself prior to using your (FixMeStick) scan!

  84. Esp -

    A. The min they want you to call “Now! Now! Now!” Its a total red flag.
    B. The one logo was just slightly wrong. You did have to zoom in to look at it. But it wasn’t right.
    C. Still the people up adobe are right. You need to point out what the giveaways are
    D. 100% 7/7 ????

  85. Keegan Anfield -

    Sounds like you’re being extra careful which is great! FixMeStick is a great second layer of security for added peace-of-mind.

  87. Keegan Anfield -

    Hi William – great job! Always best to be careful. We’re always here if you have any questions.

  88. Kilvy -

    I just finished the quiz. I got one wrong because I was using the wrong glasses! However, I must say that I love the way F.M.S. does things. These people are right on their toes and stay way ahead of the curve at all times ( I’ve found ). It’s like being back in school & having a pop quiz. It not only keeps your mental computer data sharp but keeps you safe as well. I love it :)Nothing like a ” gleaming ” reputation.

  89. FixMeStick -

    Hey there Kilvy, glad to hear you enjoyed our quiz! Keep on the look out for future quizzes by subscribing to our newsletter (:

  90. Linh Bolerjack -

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  91. Irene Wade -

    So happy I got 100%. Attention to detail is important!

  92. DIANA ROSS -

    Use fix me sticks and worry about nothing it fixes all the things for you.

  93. Anonymous -

    why would I read others as you today can never ever trust anyone as the worst is yet to come and it is going to get real bad because we have to many and how true that sure is so why would I be leave what others are saying

  94. Bill Boxlight -

    I missed only 1 which I believe is a good score. Long ago, I had a Widows XP computer that got hacked with ransomware and was locked up. A notice was put on my computer demanding $400 to get my computer unlocked or everything on my computer would be erased. I got a good computer tech to get ride of the ransomware so I could use my computer again. Since then, I have been very careful using my computer.

  95. Linda -

    Hi Bill, thank you for sharing your experience with us and for trying our quiz. 6/7 is a great score indeed!

  96. Becky Richardson -

    When something is too small to read, then treat it as a scam. Legitimate notifications will be sent to your email address or if it affects lots of people it will be on the news. I check out emails also before sending info to the wrong people with a phone call to their “Official Site”. I treat all popups with suspicion. I go to Google and look up phone numbers on their “Official Site” and call “that” number to find out if they have issued a “blockage” on my files, bank card, etc. An Amazon rep was helping me get logged on, and found that someone from Russia had tried to enter my account and that is why it required me to use two types of Identification to log on. When anything does not perform normally, find out why by calling a legitimate phone number and inquiring with “the real people.”

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