Some days, you'd really love to tell a company just how you feel about their shoddy products, poor customer service and outrageously long delivery times.

If they throw in a freebie when you respond to their survey, well, all the better.

But put that righteous anger on pause. It's once again time to beware of the scammers.

I heard about a scam the other day when a family member ended up responding to an emailed survey. The company wanted him to tell them about his experience.

For his time, he was offered a list of free products and he then selected a $49.95 headlamp on a headband, the kind you can use for camping or doing odd jobs around the house. All he had to do was pay $6.95 for shipping costs.

How 'free' can cost you $49.95

The problem? He paid the shipping charge — and then got hit a few days later with a $49.95 charge for that "free" item. Fortunately, this consumer checks his bank account online every morning and immediately called the bank to put a stop to that sneaky $49.95 charge.

He did get the headlamp, which isn't worth anything close to $50.

The survey scam, much like the old Internal Revenue Service impersonation scam, hides behind a big name that's likely to grab your attention. Along the way, it will also grab your ID information, possible access to your bank account and your credit card number.

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Consumers are being bombarded with fake COVID-19 vaccine surveys that could promise an iPad or another prize, fake COSTCO Wholesale surveys that promise $500 gift cards or rewards.

A long list of retailers have alerts on their web sites about fraudulent surveys including CVS Pharmacy, Walmart, Target and Best Buy.

One such alert notes: "Best Buy is not offering any free items for completing customer service surveys. If you paid for that shipping fee with a credit card, I would recommend contacting your bank immediately to have the charge disputed, and potentially replacing your card."

These survey type scams can impersonate banks, a wireless carrier and others, too.

Scammers value bank information — not your opinion

"They're using big reputable, recognizable names to get people hooked in," said Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.

Nofziger, who has nearly two decades of experience in fraud prevention and victim support, said it's not uncommon at all for consumers to receive legitimate surveys via email shortly after they visit a retailer or other location.

She went to a spin class on the morning of our interview and fully expected to get a short survey asking her about her experience later that day.

"They're asking me (about) my feeling," she said. "They're not asking me for my credit card number."

"Surveys do have a value and a function," Nofziger said.

The No. 1 red flag, though, is when a survey somehow ends up asking you for bank account information, a credit card number or a Medicare number.

Nofziger reviewed some recent consumer complaints about survey scams made to the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline. (Phone: 877-908-3360.)

One complaint involved a sham Ace Hardware survey. The consumer who took the survey was offered a list of free products as a reward and selected an item that normally would have cost $49.95. The consumer had to pay a minimal shipping charge.

The problem? The customer's credit card covered the shipping charge and then the consumer was later charged $49.95 once and then $49.95 again. When she called the company, they offered a partial refund and a gift card.

The AARP helpline has heard of complaints about surveys pretending to be from UPS, Walmart and CVS lately.

Some scams involve the promise of sending a customer a free iPad — if you pay $9.99 for shipping. But you'll never receive that iPad and you're out the $9.99. And the scammer now has your address and bank information.

Survey scams can start out via text, email, a phone call or even social media. Stay away from any posts on social media that direct you to another website to fill out a survey.

"Survey scammers don’t really care about your opinion," according to an AARP alert.

"Their goal is to get you to call a number or click on a link to a phony survey website, often dangling a 'free' reward like cash, gift cards, tech gadgets or travel as bait."

Some surveys can start out innocently. One consumer, Nofziger said, answered a survey about a nonalcoholic brand of beer. No banking information was requested.

Shortly afterward, she said, the consumer received a genuine looking cashier's check in the mail to supposedly pay the consumer to be a mystery shopper for that beer brand. The check was a fake and fortunately, the consumer did not deposit it.

In a fake check scam, the amount of a cashier's check quickly becomes "available" for withdrawal by the consumer after the check is deposited. Once the check ultimately moves through the financial system, it ultimately proves to be a fake. And the consumer doesn't get to keep any money.

In the meantime, the scammers often requested that the consumer put some money on a gift card to pay back the scammer for some reason. The consumer only discovers the fraud too late — and is out all of their own money.

Are you unknowingly signing up for a 'trial' service?

In some cases, Nofziger noted that the consumer can lose a good deal of money on a survey scam if they unknowingly end up signing up for a "trial" service or product. Sometimes that "trial" is buried in the footnotes of the "survey."

One consumer recently took a survey and agreed to receive Keto diet pills as a "free" reward. The shipping charge started out at $6.95 but soon they were charged nearly $240 — $119 each month — for a trial service.

Consumers lose billions of dollars

Consumers reported they lost more than $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021, an increase of more than 70% from the previous year, according to new data released by the Federal Trade Commission in February.

The top five categories: Impostor scams; online shopping scams and fake online reviews that trick consumers; prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; internet services, and fake business and job opportunities.

Survey scams where someone is gaining your trust by posing as a big brand name would fall under the category of impersonation scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2021, there were nearly 1.4 million reports of identity theft received by the FTC and nearly 2.8 million reports of fraud.

The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network is a database that receives reports from consumers, as well as from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members, and nonprofit organizations.

Michigan consumers lost $21.6 million to fraud, according to the FTC Sentinel Network. The median loss was $450. And 10,688 cases of fraud were reported in Michigan in 2021. Nearly 38% of the fraud reports in Michigan involved some type of impostor fraud, by far the biggest category of complaints.

Ignore bogus vaccine surveys

The surveys, like other scams, can play into the latest headline news.

After consumers began receiving the COVID-19 vaccines last year, federal agencies issued warnings about bogus vaccine surveys. In exchange for their participation, the consumer often was offered a free reward but was asked to pay shipping fees.

"Unless from a known and verified source, consumers should never click on links in text messages or emails claiming to be a vaccine survey," according to an alert from the U.S. Department of Justice.

"No legitimate surveys ask for your credit card or bank account number to pay for a 'free' reward," according to an FTC blog on vaccine survey scams.

Nofziger said the vaccine survey scam appears to be ongoing as she recently received one in her own email.

Some consumers, she said, might want to be helpful in a public health crisis and offer their opinions. Some might be attracted to a fake free reward of up to $90 that was offered on a phony Pfizer vaccine survey.

"To me," she said, "the gift is a vaccine."

Sometimes, it doesn't hurt to step back and realize that drugmakers, retailers and others really don't want to pay $50 or $100 or more at a pop for our thoughts.

"If I am giving you my opinion, is it really worth a $500 iPad?" Nofziger asked. "Probably not."

Contact Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @tompor. To subscribe, please go to freep.com/specialoffer. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Red flags that 'surveys' from Pfizer, Costco, others are scams