Amazon wanting interview?

[ak rain]

did everyone get one of these? I received this via email. this morning. Sylvia
edited to add I doubt they are coming to alaska
"Dear Kindle Owner,

We would like to invite you to to participate in a customer marketing video that will be filmed in your area in the next few weeks.

We'll interview you in person and give you a chance to tell us what you think about Kindle - your likes and dislikes, so that we can continue to deliver the best possible e-reading experience.

If you're interested in learning more and participating, please complete a brief questionnaire (link below). The form will be active for a limited time..."

[Magenta]

I would recommend you DO NOT click on that link.  It is most likely a scam or the link will download a virus, etc.

Contact Amazon to verify authenticity.  Provide them with the full email header.

[ak rain]

well do

[Guido Henkel]

Unless, of course, you are on a Mac, in which case you can click on anything because we don't do viruses.

[ak rain]

no I have a PC. I have emailed amazon and i await the response.
Sylvia

[Kathy]

no I have a PC. I have emailed amazon and i await the response.
Sylvia

I got the same thing. I deleted it. I have been getting other things like it. It seems like whoever is trying to attack picks up on subject lines or email addresses that you receive normally. I got one that looked like it was coming from my internet provider that wanted me to reset my password. I forwarded it to them and they confirmed it was a virus.

[ak rain]

here is the response

Hello,

The e-mail you received wasn't from Amazon.com, and we're investigating the situation. We suggest you never respond to any e-mail message that asks you to provide personal or financial information, open an unsolicited attachment, or navigate to a website linked to in the e-mail.

If you responded to the e-mail or visited a linked website but didn't provide any personal information (such as your login or password) your Amazon.com account information should be safe.

Amazon.com does not send order confirmations or other unsolicited requests that require you to open attachments, nor do we permit our third-party merchants to do so. We recommend that you do not open any e-mail attachments from suspicious or unknown sources.

[Tris]

Huh, interesting.  I got a survey to complete for a usablility market research study once a couple of months ago...but it came directly from Amazon and I had to fufill a survey on various topics.  It then told me that I might be chosen for the goup study and be paid some odd amount like $20-30 for my time.  I got a call on my phone, but I couldn't answer it (which I tend not to if it's an unrecognizable number on caller ID)...so I dunno if I would have ever been chosen for the group or not.  Oh well, at least after a month post the study date (they give you a week range of when the study would meet) here we have the major upgrade.

Tris

[talleylynn]

I received that same email this morning. I'm glad someone checked it out. I'm also glad I was too busy to mess with it this morning

[mistyd107]

I got it this an as well and I'n on a mac no worry about virus

[Jesslyn]

Well I answered the survey because all the links went to the Amazon site. Lo and behold I got a response with an NDA agreement attached to send back to Amazon.  Needless to say I'm more excited than I can say--and hoping that I get a preview of the Kindle 3. 
I'll report back what I can if anything comes of it.

[Cindy416]

I haven't seen that in my email, but a couple of years ago, I received the same sort of thing from KitchenAid. I went to the website, got a customer service telephone number, and called them directly. Turns out it was legit, and after some interviews, I was selected to go to Portland, OR, to be part of an infomercial (all expenses paid). I didn't get  to go, though, because it was over the weekend that our high school graduation was being held. I had to be at graduation, so had to turn down the KA offer. Wish they'd do another infomercial and would call me again.

[vickir]

Then again, if they are doing Kindle commercials, sign us up!

[BruceS]

Then again, if they are doing Kindle commercials, sign us up!

No question about it. Anyone who is a member of this forum could make a more effective commercial than the ones that amazon is currently showing.

[Jesslyn]

I think they are preparing for either commercials or videos on the website.  The email and NDA mention videotaping and that they would be recording stories, commentary, comments and observations. 
My fingers are sooooo crossed!  It has got to be something new if I can't talk about it, take pictures, use it in public, etc.

[happyblob]

I think they are preparing for either commercials or videos on the website.  The email and NDA mention videotaping and that they would be recording stories, commentary, comments and observations. 
My fingers are sooooo crossed!  It has got to be something new if I can't talk about it, take pictures, use it in public, etc.

I'm confused. Is it a scam or not? Maybe it's a legit PR operation that the CS hasn't heard about yet.

[Jesslyn]

Its legit, but too late to respond now--the deadline was yesterday.  I know of someone else who also responded and been contacted with an NDA as well.

[MAGreen]

If there is an NDA the CS department most likely doesn't know about it. They would be trying to keep it as quiet as possible for as long as possible, which means there is something to hide...like a new generation Kindle maybe?

[Toby]

I got an invite as well, but didn't do anything about it. Actually, it didn't occur to me that it might not have come from Amazon. I just didn't know if I wanted to be video taped.

[chocochibi]

This is from an abstract of a paper referred to an a blog http://macviruscom.wordpress.com/

"The Apple Macintosh has received little recent attention from virus writers or, indeed, anti-virus researchers. Though the number of native Mac viruses has stayed virtually static for several years, the recent upsurge of macro viruses has not left the Macintosh community unscathed. Many viruses which infect Microsoft Office applications will do so as happily on a Macintosh as on a PC. Even Mac users who don’t use vulnerable applications or application versions may, without appropriate anti-virus software, unknowingly pass on infected files. Many Mac sites, however, are only just waking up to these facts, belatedly and expensively. "

This was posted May 13th this year.

[Heywood43]

Is it true that macs don't get attacked by viruses? Need to clarify this.

Yeah you know when saw the claims of no virus worries on a Mac I kind of chuckled to myself also.

http://www.dailytech.com/New+Attack+Compromises+Apple+Keyboards/article15863.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/7638376/iPad-users-targeted-by-hackers.html


As the first article says, native viruses on a Mac are less common - but the Mac is anything but impervious to being compromised.

It's just that Windows OS dominates the consumer computer market. So if you were a bad guy virus writer who would you write viruses for? Windows or Mac.. Internet Explorer or Safari?

Not to mention the fact that a phishing via email doesn't need to infect your computer. I just needs to convince you to enter your private information somewhere. Social engineering is platform agnostic.