@ Tanya I think that is scare tactics. At this point in time of internet "do this to get that" they know a good majority of hits they'll get is going to be bogus.

Face it, the number one thing they want is personal info. I really don't think they care because at the end of the day they have a file of names, addresses, and phone numbers they can sell. If they (the site hosting the offers, not subeta) were 100% legit then more than like 90% of the "offers" they host wouldn't be scams/malware/virus loaded.

edit: Hey, wait a minute. So what if I were to sign up for an offer that gave a free 30 day trial and decided a couple days in that it wasn't for me so I canceled to not be charged. They'd actually go and revoke the credits and possibly ban me? lmao That reads as if you sign up for anything you better never cancel or they'll take everything back and have you banned.

The offers change all the time, target different regions, and can be time consuming to complete so it's going to be laborious vetting them. It should be the advertising company's responsibility, but apparently they are amoral and don't care besides not advertising illegal stuff. Advertising companies, including Google has a tendency to sell out and include controversial ads. So just beware, and that's why Subeta put the warning there.

My issues with this: They don't even work. Even if you do get through one of them (after 30minutes of redirecting, not being eligible for surveys, whatever) you still don't get credited, even after you do what is required to get said credits.

Scams upon viruses upon pervs trying to access my webcam what eveeenn?

On another note, if anyone has actually gotten any of these to work, seriously give me the exact name of it, what you entered to be eligible for the survey bullshit, and I will fucking split the 3 CSC with you.

I tried about 10 of these, just to see if they were even viable. I didn't qualify for any of them. I'm kinda curious to know which ones people actually managed to get CSC from. I can't even get verification emails sent to me

I don't know if it's just because I'm in Australia and we have terrible targeted ones, or it's a buncha bs

Only two worked for me - the Just Fab shoe one for 48 csc (you just sign up and take a quiz on what kind of shoes you like) and the Home Depot flyer for 2 csc (where you just click through the online flyer). ^^; [edit] None of the survey or game ones worked for me - even the ones where i qualified for and completed surveys, I wasn't credited with the csc. And the game ones that require you to play for 5-15 min didn't work either.

Yeah, I did one that required me to do surveys - and encouraged me to stick around and do MULTIPLE surveys - but never got the 500+ CSC it promised me. Decided to quit trying after that.

It's certainly discouraging that users are running into viruses and uh webcam problems??? I don't think I had any of those issues, ran a scan to make sure my comp didn't pick anything up and came up fine, but it's kind of scary to think I could run into something like that. So that, plus having never gotten the CSC I was told I'd get for entering my e-mail and stuff, makes me not want to try any more.

It's nice of staff to try and add these offers back onto the site. I remember a lot of users asking about them and suggesting they be brought back since the last time they were removed. It's really nice and I'm grateful for that. But I think I'm done. I mean, no, I don't expect Subeta to be able to sort through them and weed out what might be dangerous, and it's nice that they put the warning up on the page so quickly after the offers were released. I guess it's kind of a "use at your own risk" kinda deal. But I for sure won't be risking it anymore.

Also, I did not appreciate the "enter your real info or you'll be banned" messages that came along with the offers. That message is not very friendly, even if it is just scare tactics - it really did scare me. :/

I forgot to mention this but yeah seriously. Have staff said if there's actually any merit to this? I'm not scared but it certainly doesn't make me want to complete any of these offers

I didn't have any of them ask me for particularly shady info -- my birthday, mostly -- but yeah, none of them actually work.

Meh.

Well, they at least put a warning on top of the page and from this point on it's everyone's own risk in my opinion. If someone is concerned about their security then they just shouldn't use this feature - I know that this is what I'm going to do.

I did a three of the offers. Only two of them paid and I gave up in the middle of one since it was just endless surveys? I remember I've done some of these before on gaia and it was like... the same experience. Mostly endless surveys or trying to lead to other sites. Or trying to make me install toolbars?? That was a new one.

I don't know if I'll try it again since I got a warning for malware... that's not surprising. I know subeta is trying and it's not their fault. It just sucks that there aren't many options to get some free csc to the people that can't buy.

The first time these were put up, people complained of multiple ones having spyware/malware and as a result subeta took them down which resulted in the videos being put up instead. The videos didn't get a lot of traction simply because of lack of content though and those are pretty much dead as a result.

The fact of the matter is, any time you put up an offer wall on a site in general there's going to be a certain amount of risk. I used to do them on neopets when I was a kid and don't remember getting my information exposed, but at the same time I was smart enough as a kid to usually send them to junk emails though.

The truth of the matter is, considering all the offers are going through third-party websites there's really not much subeta can do. It's not subeta owned content and in general subeta has no control what offers are being presented to whom. They might have some limited control in having certain offers taken down, but even when the past ones were up they still had very limited control over what was being shown. It's always been a use at your own risk type deal.

And what about the 13 year old kid who truly doesn't know any better and sees an awesome offer for free CSC!

Don't you dare say that they should "know better," because these kinds of offers specifically prey on the inexperienced and naive.

(Edge, I'm not trying to attack you specifically, more just the sentiment.)

It's easy to say "well, this item on Subeta offends me, so I'm just going to ignore it," because those items aren't infecting computers and stealing personal information. By ignoring the potential problems here, we're inviting in trouble for the inexperienced players of Subeta.

I agree entirely.

Toolbars have always been revolving doors for trojans and worms, and all manner of information mining Malware!

I'd much rather see the wall of offers be scrapped and instead, find a different to reward users with free CSC.

Hell, go back to the Youtube videos and find channels that could possibly earn them new subscribers. I know plenty of gamer channels who could use some support.

Why not introduce a daily chance game users can play, with CSC being one of the possible prizes? Then sPs can be deleted out of the economy, and the amount of CSC rewarded in the game can be small enough in increments to not hurt the site financially-speaking.

Didn't we have some sort of summer event a few years ago, where players could enter daily and potentially earn free CSC?

The wall of offers is a fine idea, since it is what users want. But I think it should have been handled differently, especially if there are reports of sites wanting to know personal information.

But the offers ultimately aren't about 'free' CSC for the users; they're about creating an additional revenue for the site. The Youtube videos were obviously the best, risk-free method, but the hard part is finding people who want to pay $0.04 or whatever for a video view. And let's be honest - most people probably just muted them while they played in the background. I doubt they garnered much click through.

The offers are outsourced and really not Subeta's responsibility imo. They aren't something I'll do so really don't affect me, but I've seen a few people asking for them to return for a while now.

And what about the 13 year old kid who truly doesn't know any better and sees an awesome offer for free CSC!

Don't you dare say that they should "know better," because these kinds of offers specifically prey on the inexperienced and naive.

(Edge, I'm not trying to attack you specifically, more just the sentiment.)

It's easy to say "well, this item on Subeta offends me, so I'm just going to ignore it," because those items aren't infecting computers and stealing personal information. By ignoring the potential problems here, we're inviting in trouble for the inexperienced players of Subeta.

No offense taken. :)

I don't have children and I have always been a cautious person even as a thirteen year old so maybe I'm just putting too much faith into my fellow humans but either way what is Subeta supposed to do? When the offer wall was shut down people complained, now that it's back there's an uproar again so I don't know...locking the feature for people under a certain age would be an option (unless it's not in the US, don't know that) but where do we set the mark? And what about those who entered a fake d.o.b.?

As for the Youtube videos mentioned, I think it just didn't work out as Keith was hoping so I wouldn't count on it to make a return even though it for sure was a thing many of us loved.

1. They often don't work
2. They ask for personal information that can put you at risk
3. They are virus/malware filled
4. They earn subeta CENTS at a time ???
5. subeta can't control what shows up sO WHY IS IT ON THE SITE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Is there really any sense in NOT removing the offers wall? Jfc. I'll say all what I said in the news post comments because my points still stand.

Really? People are already saying they got viruses from these... Like why is it up to the userbase to willy nilly click on stuff and become at risk before you decide that some of the offers aren't safe?

I guess I'm the only one seeing how absolutely irresponsible it is to present a huge wall of free viruses to your customers because you "can't control" the offers that show up and don't bother to test them before releasing. This is worse than when the malware links were being sent around through smail, because the site is actually officially sponsoring this sort of thing... Wow. Just wow. 😔

Really what is the point of the offers? Subetans get some "free"***** csc and subeta earns a handful of change?

****Free with a nice bonus of viruses, malware and identity theft.

And you CAN'T assume that people know better. There are some naiive as hell people on the internet, including on this site, and when they're presented with this kind of thing with the promise of virtual currency, they will dive headfirst into it without even a prior thought. I had thought it was subeta's job to protect us from readily available dangerous virtual situations like viruses, but I guess not.

Not all people who fall victim to scams and viruses are dumb little kids, I'm pretty sure the majority of victims are grownass adults. If subeta cannot control what shows up in the offers then why are they even there? What sense does it make to lose control over a page on your website?

I know I'm probably way too worked up about this and my post is a mile long but god this whole "offers" business is a huge bad idea and only makes subeta look like a catalyst for inflicting spammy virus sites upon any naiive person who's desperate enough for some virtual cash. I guess I'm just really surprised that subeta would stoop that low.

I hope the offers wall is removed soon.

Shh just let me find the non-virus ones that I don't have to buy /download things from first so i can get something.

Seriously though. I have like 40 "pending". Only one gave me CSC. This is a litttttle ridic.

I hope I get the webcam one again. Maybe that's how I can start my Titz4Pointz Referral Compaign.

There are people on Subeta of all ages and ability who might not be able to protect themselves, their machine or their information. Subeta isn't 100% responsible for what people choose to do while on their site but setting up something like this is irresponsible. There was a reason staff got rid of third-party offers before so why are they back? They're always a bad idea. Yes, some people do actually get some CSC (or even a lot) out of them, but there's a huge potential for danger. It's just not a good idea.

If people want to do a review thread, sure. It'll be very hard to maintain due to targeted offers, constantly changing offers, etc., though. As well, though some people have the technical know-how to keep their own machine safe some people might jump in to try to review some links without really knowing what they're getting into.

Third-party offers that Subeta has no control over should not have been brought back.

I'm clicking through some of them now, even though it still makes me feel dirty.

If anyone's interested in completing offers, I have a few suggestions:

1. Read the fine print before you click. It tells you what you have to do to earn credits, which may include downloading software or providing credit card information. If you have to do anything like that, avoid the offer entirely.

Here's the fine print I'm talking about:

(Click to enlarge)

2. For the rest of the offers, I basically make up a character to avoid giving out any real information. As far as they're concerned, I'm a blond 20-something year old wannabe-actress living in LA. :P

3. Use a throwaway email account. Don't use your real email address, because you'll be buried in spam and stuff. A quick google search for "throwaway email" brings up several sites. Mailinator, guerrillamail, and 10minutemail are all good. You don't have to sign up, and they give you a random email address to use.

Sometimes you'll come across an offer that's blacklisted one of these sites (they'll tell you the email address isn't valid.) If that happens, just try another. There's usually at least one they overlooked and they'll accept it.

4. If they ask what industry you work in in order to "match you with a survey," don't say you work in advertising, marketing, or legal. That basically tells them that you know all their advertising tricks and they'll blacklist you for being too smart. Just tell them you're a mindless drone working in retail or customer service or something. (No offense to anyone in those industries :P)

5. Keep an eye on Subeta and watch for the event telling you the CSC came through. Once you see that, just drop everything and stop whatever survey or other offer you're on. They have a tendency to funnel you directly from one survey to the next to try to get you to do more than you have to for the CSC. You have no obligation to keep going once they credit your account.

In other news, this is me right now: