free donuts....sooooo not worth it

my junk e-mail folder in hotmail is packed with exactly that - junk. i go in every now and then to purge and to make sure someone long and lost isn't trying to reach me, as i have all people not in my contact folder automatically sent to the junk mail pile. so on saturday i saw a message with the subject "dunkin donuts or krispy kreme?". if any of you know me at all, you know that i LOVE donuts, any kind, i absolutely love 'em and even make them myself on my days off. i could eat tim hortons every day without batting an eyelash, and have even had lengthly converstations with people about KK vs. DD and the implications of each (because this is very important and valid subject matter). so of course a message like that would pique my interest! i opened the file and the message asked me to pick one or the other for a chance at a $100 gift certificate to either. i clicked "krispy kreme" and was told that i won $100 gift card, yay! all i had to do was fill out the address to send it to and complete a short survey. hmmm.... okay. i wanted it sent to my mom so i put her name and mailing address, and my e-mail address and that's it. then there were some questions about online education and what courses i would be interested in, so i fudged the answers and clicked on the "next " button. another survey about more online education degree programs. feh, okay... yet another questionaire about products i use and want free offers on, i clicked "no" on all 50 of them. then another form to fill out asking for my SSN and that i would be charged $9.99 shipping for my new sprint cell phone. WTF??? sorry, i don't need the donuts that badly, so i closed out the program thinking that would be the end of that nonsense.

yesterday i talk to my mom and she says, the strangest thing happened - i get a call from a car dealership in paramus new jersey saying that i've just been approved for an online auto loan, call us back to reply and follow up. whoa! when she contacts them to find out what the hell was going on, it was my e-mail address linked to it! holy crap, all i did was look for free donuts! i didn't fill out any auto loan questions!!! good thing i didn't give them my SSN, could you imagine what a disaster that could have been? i didn't even complete the whole thing and already they're soliciting. and of course, i check my junk e-mail box and its FILLED with messages to my mom (remember, my mom's name, my e-mail address) about free offers and all that other crap she should claim.

i can't believe i did something so bone-headed. all for free donuts. i mean, jeez, i'm a dentist, you would think i could afford all the donuts i want! from now on, i'll just get my stuff the old fashioned way - with cold, hard cash.