You’ve just gotten an email to attend a meeting or fill out a survey. This might not be an issue to you if you were expecting this email because you signed up for it, but it may surprise you if this is the first time they contacted you about anything.
The person who contacted you might represent themselves as one of your friends, your colleague or someone else close to you.
They may also say they are representing your company and that the meeting is mandatory for all employees.
What they don’t tell you is that there will be a presentation at the meeting where they will try sell company products/services to everyone in attendance by telling them how much better it will make them and their colleagues’ lives.
The information you provide to the people at the meeting will be used to get your contact details and other details that can be used to get you involved in working for the company.
Here are some ways discussed to save yourself from vector marketing scam–
1. Think about what you want to do.
Weigh your options and make your decision by yourself. Do not let others make decisions for you, especially when it’s something as important as your career.
2. Be smart and don’t make it easy for companies to contact you with offers.
If you do decide to give your email address, phone number and other personal information to a company, be smart about it! Don’t just give them everything.
Give them what they need and not everything that they want. If they want the rest of your personal details, they will ask you for it.
Many times, if you’re asked for more information than needed at first contact, it’s a good sign that the company is trying to get as much information as possible so they can use it later on in order to try selling their products/services to you.
3. Think twice before you reply.
If they send you a message that is not clear about the meeting, then don’t rush to reply and send them your personal details.
Check with your friends and colleagues and make sure they’re not pulling a prank on you before replying. You may even want to send them a question back asking about the meeting, especially if you’ve already received the message multiple times.
If your friends insist that something is up and it is really an invitation for a meeting, then do some research on the company before attending!
Search online to see if other people were invited to meetings like this in their area.
4. Investigate the company’s website/social media channels.
If you decide to reply to the email, ask if it’s okay for them to contact you via other means (email, phone, etc.) before giving them this information.
Ask yourself if that’s how you like other companies contacting you. The more information they get from you, the easier it will be for them to spam/call you later on down the road.
If they send large amounts of mail or spam your social media channels, then don’t associate with them at all! You can also try searching their site or social media channels for keywords like “sales”, “marketing” and “advertising” to see how they promote themselves online.
5. Figure out what they want from you before you reply.
If the message says that the message is from a friend/colleague, but doesn’t tell you what they want from you or where the meeting is located, then don’t trust it!
In future messages, they will probably ask for a response in order to get more information about you in order to try selling to you later on down the road.
6. Keep your phone number out of the conversation.
If you do decide to give them your contact details, then don’t give it to them in an email or over the phone!
Instead, send them a message via their website/social media channels telling them that if they’d like to call, they can call you on +1 Your Number at this number.
If the company is offering a product/service, then they may want to call you to see if you would be interested in a trial.
Not all companies will ask you for a phone number or email address. After some time, they will probably send you an email that asks for this information anyway.
7. Don’t give them more information than they need.
Asking them why they are contacting you specifically is a good way to find out how much they actually need from you.
If they ask you for information that has nothing to do with the company, then don’t give it to them!
Be smart and remember that these companies only want one thing out of you: your personal information.
