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Is it scam?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by suranjana, Apr 28, 2010.

  1. #1
    Hi,
    Today I received an email from Google for usability study participation. Anybody received like that? Is it true or scam?
    The mail is following.


    Hello!

    I am contacting you with a short survey to verify your eligibility for an upcoming usability study with Google. This study is an opportunity to provide feedback on something that is currently in development. This study will help the Google team better understand your needs in order to incorporate them into future product enhancements.

    We are currently scheduling participants for a study to take place on April 30th and May 3rd out of our office in Mountain View, CA. If you are interested in participating, please complete the questionnaire linked below. We will then schedule appointments on a first come first served basis.

    **Please note that you will not be compensated for responding to our questionnaires; you will receive an incentive if you actually participate in a study with Google.**

    Details of the study:
    * The duration of the study is 1 hour.
    * You'll receive $75 in American Express gift checks as a token of our appreciation.

    To participate you will need to:
    * be at least 18 years old
    * be willing to sign our Usability Non-Disclosure Agreement
    * allow us to video or audio tape the session

    Please fill out the survey here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGRFMHZwQi00aERoejlaTjVZZ29fc3c6MA

    Thank you for your time.

    Trudy Cederman
    Usability Participant Recruiter

    Sent on behalf of:

    Olga Khroustaleva,
    Google Inc.
    1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
    Mountain View, CA 94043

    If you have any questions about our usability studies, please visit http://www.google.com/forms/user_faq.html.

    The personal information you provide to us in this questionnaire will only be used for purposes of Google user research. We will not share it with anyone else. For details on how Google treats your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/privacy.html).

    You were contacted by the Google User Experience Research team because you previously signed up at http://www.google.com/usability to participate in Google usability studies.

    If you do not wish to receive emails from Google User Experience Research in the future, please unsubscribe using the form at this link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pjcIN5vl0HVuGVAV72_wRLg.
     
    suranjana, Apr 28, 2010 IP
  2. ceaseer

    ceaseer Peon

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    #2
    Probably is a scam. Not sure why google would pay american express vouchers when they can most likely get people to do the surveys for free. Also, anyone can upload a form or spreasheet to the google servers and make it look authentic.

    Contact information harvesting to resell probably.
     
    ceaseer, Apr 28, 2010 IP
  3. suranjana

    suranjana Peon

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    #3
    I also think so.
     
    suranjana, Apr 29, 2010 IP
  4. IoWn3rU

    IoWn3rU Peon

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    #4
    If the email is @google.com then it's legitimate.
     
    IoWn3rU, Apr 29, 2010 IP
  5. extremephp

    extremephp Peon

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    #5
    Well, It would be probably a Scam..!

    Well, I havent got one to my mail.. may be i will be getting it later on :)
     
    extremephp, Apr 29, 2010 IP
  6. IoWn3rU

    IoWn3rU Peon

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    #6
    Do you even know what you're saying, or are you trying to artificially boost your post count?

    The email was sent from an official source at google. Hence the sender having a @google.com e-mail address.

    Notice this:

    You were contacted by the Google User Experience Research team because you previously signed up at http://www.google.com/usability to participate in Google usability studies.

    AND THIS

    If you do not wish to receive emails from Google User Experience Research in the future, please unsubscribe using the form at this link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/view...HVuGVAV72_wRLg.

    Discussion over.
     
    IoWn3rU, Apr 29, 2010 IP
  7. besbesmany

    besbesmany Peon

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    #7
    i think it is a scam email , i recieve hundered of emails at google and yahoo
     
    besbesmany, Apr 30, 2010 IP
  8. darkknight007

    darkknight007 Member

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    #8
    even if it is @google.com it is a scam because google does not send these typical e-mails.if the e-mail landed in your scam folder then it is 100% a scam
     
    darkknight007, May 1, 2010 IP
  9. madagaskar

    madagaskar Peon

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    #9
    Well, It would be probably a Scam..!
     
    madagaskar, May 1, 2010 IP
  10. InstantPH

    InstantPH Peon

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    #10
    Not always. The sender email can easily be spoofed.
     
    InstantPH, May 1, 2010 IP
  11. tjsocr22

    tjsocr22 Active Member

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    #11
    I am pretty sure it is legitimate if it is directly coming from Google. They probably would have sent out a notice that fake messages are coming from their system if they had an suspicion of wrong doing from their servers.
     
    tjsocr22, May 2, 2010 IP
  12. timc

    timc Member

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    #12
    HI GUYS!

    I'm a usability researcher myself AND have participated in the studies at Google. This is standard practice and completely legit. It's also a lot of fun getting the chance to give Google feedback (and get paid for the privilege!)

    If you check Craigslist, you'll see plenty of companies offering this. I pay the same rates as Google for my studies - $75/participant, except I use Amazon gift cards.

    The thing I find weirdest from the OP is this bit:

    "You were contacted by the Google User Experience Research team because you previously signed up at http://www.google.com/usability to participate in Google usability studies."

    So you're saying you SIGNED UP FOR THIS, but then ask if it's a scam later?
     
    timc, Sep 2, 2010 IP
  13. funzone

    funzone Peon

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    #13
    it's should be scam but i don't ever received such type message..
     
    funzone, Sep 2, 2010 IP
  14. SGeek

    SGeek Active Member

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    #14
    Key here is the spreedsheet thing .. google wouldn't use that .. and they'd send you a check if anything .. it's for sure a scam ... I bet when you hit reply it will reply to different email ..
     
    SGeek, Sep 3, 2010 IP
  15. cai

    cai Peon

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    #15
    I got a similar letter in November...I just got a following up email from Trudy to participate in the survey. What did you end up doing?
     
    cai, Jan 13, 2011 IP
  16. Digital Maze

    Digital Maze Peon

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    #16
    just logged into my VPN which the server is in Germany and the Google link comes up in German. So it seems to me to be legit
     
    Digital Maze, Jan 13, 2011 IP
  17. daica85

    daica85 Well-Known Member

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    #17
    I think that's 99% scam, because I don't think Google used spreadsheet online to get a survey, instead of that, they can build a professional landing page to collect and analytics many information that they want.
     
    daica85, Jul 13, 2016 IP
  18. jv1999

    jv1999 Active Member

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    #18
    It's a huge scam. Sigh.
     
    jv1999, Jul 13, 2016 IP
  19. timc

    timc Member

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    #19
    It's not a scam.

    I still run usability tests for a living (see my comment above from 6 years ago), and have been involved in the Google usability tests.

    I'm just some random person on the internet, but I really do live and work in the Silicon Valley and know how/why they run studies like this. All the big companies here do it. They have small teams, who work lean, so they don't get things like fancy landing pages. Trust me, they have a TON of quantitative data, but getting qualitative data is also just as important, which is why they run studies like this.

    No worries if you choose not to believe me. Better safe the sorry, right? But if you look at what a scam actually looks like compared to this, you'll realise I'm right.
     
    timc, Jul 13, 2016 IP
  20. mentos

    mentos Prominent Member

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    #20
    You can always check on the email header to verify the authenticity of the email.
     
    mentos, Jul 15, 2016 IP