(KY3) -One viewer from Shell Knob, Missouri thought it was weird. She received cash in the mail from the Centers for Disease Control asking her to complete a survey. She’ll get more money on an Amazon gift card if she does. So he took photos of the letter and emailed it to On Your Side.

After a lot of digging, Ashley Reynolds says this is not a scam. It’s real. Reynolds worked with her sources, but they too were skeptical. Even the Springfield-Greene County Health Department thought it was fishy, ​​but the CDC and the company doing this survey both confirmed to On Your Side that it’s legit.

Brenda Conway did a double take. She says the $5 bill is real.

But it is not unusual. After all, the Nielsen Consumer Survey is known for handing out cash. Consumer experts say small quantity is key.

“If scammers really want to come after you and try to get you something, they won’t offer you hard cash,” said Don O’Brien of the Better Business Bureau. “They’re going to give you a check for a lot more than the $5 this person got.”

This could be real, but beware of health survey impostors.

“Believe it or not, government agencies are often played by scammers,” O’Brien said.

What also makes it confusing is that the letter has the CDC logo and the signature of a CDC worker, but it directs you to a website that is not an official government website. It’s a dot com This is the company doing the survey.

“This is what they do for the medical field. Marrying CDC made a lot of sense,” said O’Brien.

Remember, just because it’s real doesn’t mean you have to respond.

“If there’s a question you’re not comfortable with, don’t feel like you have to answer it,” O’Brien said.

Conway didn’t finish it.

“My cyber security is worth more than a $10 Amazon gift certificate. They are not for sale that cheap,” she said.

Although this survey is optional, the census is not. On Your Side has told you for years, the census has the American Community Survey, which is legit. You should fill this out. They will continue to bother you if you don’t.

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