Making Money Online - How to spot a Scam
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If it’s too Good to be True…
The credit crunch has done wonders for online scammers; they must feel like all their Christmases have come at once. There's not a person I know who wouldn’t jump at the chance to earn more money, we all have something that we want or need or have some emergency repair that we can’t afford. Those who have lost their jobs and face losing everything are the most vulnerable - what they need is an income, not a waste of time effort and money on a scam that will ultimately add to their despair.
EXPOSED: London Mum Makes £5,000/Month From Home And You Won’t Believe How she Does It!
Each time I see one of these adverts promising that you can earn £5K per week/month with just 18 hours a week work on the internet it makes my blood boil. I have been a HubPages member for a little over two years now and in the last few months I have increased my written output. I am slowly learning about back linking and promoting my articles online but my current earnings total is still less than $10. I don’t ever expect Hubbing to be lucrative enough for it to replace my full time income, but I enjoy writing and it would be lovely to earn a little pocket money.
Vulnerable desperate people are the target and they are being scammed left right and centre. I’m not stupid but I’ve nearly fallen for it during a time of desperation and unemployment, thank god I did some checking on the company promising me this easy solution to all my troubles and found it to be a scam. Sadly some people believe their eyes when reading web pages - but remember these people are pro's, they know how to hook you and it’s easy to make a website look genuine, reliable and professional.
Online Career Journal and it's many other subsites
An example of a scam website is careerjournalonline.com, it’s a website set out like an online news service or editorial page, there are plenty of recognisable institutions named “BBC, Sky News, Telegraph, FT.com” these recognisable and reliable names instantly add kudos to the site, it must be real if these reliable worldwide institutions have advocated it, it gives you peace of mind. At first glance the site looks genuine, it’s laid out as it should be but then you look closer, some of the text and images are pixelated, try clicking on any of the page banners at the top or any image, in fact any part of the site – you aren't redirected to the page you expect but rather to straight to Online Career Package.
The site owners rely on the potential customer being desperate, lazy or greedy and looking for a quick fix solution. They bank on that customer not checking around the rest of the page or running a Google search on the company name.
As of April 2012 the site can no longer be found, but I have no doubt that something similar, with a different name but the same format, and probably by the same scammers will pop up soon.
Something for Nothing?
There are many online scams and the trick is always being able to spot them before you get sucked in. If it looks to good to be true it probably is, do your research. You cannot expect something for nothing, you have to work hard to fulfil your dreams and potential and no eBook or website is going to have the magic wisdom to hand you that success on a plate.
YOU CAN MAKE MONEY ONLINE WORKING FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME
Well yes, technically you can. I write on HubPages and my (nearly) $10 is technically an income (woo hoo break open the bottle of Champagne). I am earning money online – just not the thousands that these websites promise. Yes it is possible to have an online business that you run from home and you can be successful, but clicking through these types of websites and paying for information isn’t the way to do it.
Below are the T&C’s from the Career Journal Online Page, I wonder how many people read them. They are of course at the very bottom of the page and in a very small font. Preceding the T&C’s you will find a discussion forum that appears to have been added to in the last couple of days but is now closed so that you cannot comment. Cleverly some of the comments appear to be people asking for advice and some even seem sceptical about the scheme. They are of course reassured by other people who are using the programme that it is worthwhile and money can be made. The T&C’s admit that the Online Career Journal is not affiliated with the companies it claims such as the BBC. It also spells out that revenue is made though ad clicks to the site. It’s a shame that in researching this I have clicked on it an awful lot and they have probably made more today from my clicks that I have made on HubPages in the last two years.
Limited Offer, Time Limits and Expiry Dates
Extra pressure is applied to get you to sign up by way of limited offers, price reductions or limited places available. You will find if you let the closing date go by and check again a couple of days later, the date will have been changed again to allow you just enough time to apply - it's always just about to expire.
Don't be fooled by the promise of fast cash - Oh WOW the next checks go out February 1st? But how could I possibly have made money within a couple of days... good lord this must really work... and your first check can be between $300 and $1500...I'm in!
STOP. They make you feel like you are missing out on the deal of a lifetime, that you have to sign up now or you’ll be making a horrendous mistake.
If you fill in the form you are presented with a 5 minute timer to input your contact details and credit card information to pay $1.95 to 'join'. Anyone who is wary of credit card fraud should run a mile but with the pressure and the low price some people are enticed to sign up there and then. Giving your phone number and email address just opens up a whole other world of spamming for them. If the timer runs out the web page reminds you and asks if you require another 5 minutes - its always there prodding you to sign up. But beware if you do...
READ THE SMALL PRINT
To access your website, a nominal charge of $1.95 USD is needed for us to know that you are a real person. Upon payment, you'll receive instant access to your very own website for a 5-day trial-enrollment. After your trial-enrollment expires, in order to keep your website active and available on the internet, you agree that your card will be charged $29.95 per month for hosting and maintenance. There are no hidden fees and no long-term contracts. You may cancel anytime simply by calling our office toll-free at (0808) 234-3469.
By the way, I called the number. IT DOESN'T WORK!
It's a Load of Old Rubbish!
This is where my experiment/research ends as I am not willing to sign up to something (if indeed you do get anything) and give over my personal and financial details even for the sake of research. I urge anyone who gives these sites more than a one second glance to read the full site and have a click around or a quick Google search before going any further.
The fact that you've clicked through the site to start with means that revenue has been earned by 'them' and if they get you to sign up then ker-ching its quids in for the 'they' who run this site. Do yourself a favour, dont ever be enticed by get rich quick banners on websites, it's a load of old rubbish.
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Have you been Duped?
Have you been sucked in? Have you gone ahead and signed up to an online scam?
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Great article. The scams out there are too numerous to mention and I have been sucked in myself (fortunately not at great expense). There are some really helpful, genuine people out there but finding them is another thing altogether.
They give the internet community a bad name, as they cannot be stopped and censoring the web isn't an option it's up to folks like us to make people aware of the baddies out there. Thanks for your feedback.
Your link showing the scam site is very typical of how they trick people. Anytime they ask for shipping and handling for make money at home....it's a scam almost guaranteed!
Too good to be true? Then it is too good to be true!I hate scammers so another article that hopefully will find people before they are duped out of their money.
Great article and really interesting facts and so true that these things should be highlighted more often, so great job!
I believe you can go into your google adsense account and edit the type of ads you have placed on your hubs, but of course that is only for the the 40% of the ads that HubPages displays under your adsense id, the other 60% I don't think HubPages gives much control over.
Very good post - I have been talking to so many of the people that I have assisted in their online money making efforts. The reality is that there is no magic buttons or get quick tools.
What people have to realize is that they are going to have to make a effort in their business.
I truly love your honesty in the hub but, always make sure that you look at the little victories and also make sure that you look for other methods to make the money that you desire.
You are on the right path and if you ever want some advice I would love to make sure that we stay connected as I know that I just learned allot from just reading this post.
Talk soon - Marc Turner - The Firm Online - https://www.thefirmbiz.info
Nice post. As P.T. Barnum was supposed to have said, "There's a sucker born every minute."
You said that right Laura - Just have to look at it through the eyes of those that are just looking at trying to get something quick without work.
Nice
I have gone into my Google Adsense and blocked the ad category 'get Rich Quick' so lets see what happens, hopefully it will slow them down a little.
Thank you for all your comments.
You are so welcome but make sure that you stay plugged in. Thank You so much for the great post.
Marc Turner - The Firm Online - htps://ww.thefirmbiz.info
Thanks for a great post. I've bought so many rubbish make money courses. Fortunately, I can get refund from them.
Thank you all for stopping by, I have more articles like this planned about other current scams so watch this space!
Hi, came to your hub via Brett Tesol's sharing Hub.
I dont believe in get rich quick schemes and I dont believe in somthing for nothing. What I do believe in though is residual income. Why? Because I have met people that earn itand it can be a very powerful thing. Not every scheme or opportunity on the web is a scam. You make a few $ a month on Hubpages I have made $50+ dollars on the website I promote. Others that use the website I use make $100 a month and one student made 25k in under two years. I made a hub about that as I find it quite uplifting.
Why do I even look for opportunities like this? Easy as I dont wish to work 9-5 for the rest of my life and past the current pension age as is highly likely to be the case, who wants to do that?
I offer you a challenge. Look at my hibs find my link to my website and sign up for the site I promote. You will guarnateed have $2.50 instantly spendable on Amazon and if you can earn a further dollar easily within 20 mins max. To sign up take less information than you use to sign for Hubpages, no credit no debit card.
Most 5k a month Mums are fake but not all of them. Ive met Kleeneze distributors that earn over 80k a month and I tell you that when I dont even promote Kleeneze as the simple fact is its true, wish it was me :D
Thanks for sharing, socially shared.
jimsmillions, you have sparked my interest and I will take a look at your hub and let you know how I get on. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi jimsmillions, I took a look and even got as far as signing up (so you will have a referral fee coming to you) however it's not for me. It's another kind of internet money scam, only this time it's not your money being taken but your personal details. How many sites have you signed up to and how much information do they take from you?
I do believe that money can be made, and what you get out is based on how much effort you put in but a lot of people don't have hours on end to fill in surveys and play games. You could even say that it is made to sound easy to make money to get people to sign up and then it becomes apparent later on that you need to do an awful lot for little return. I don't doubt for some it's a good way of earning a side income, and I didn't see any banners promising $1000's per month and so it isn't like the site I write about above (which is a blatant scam), but I personally think it a waste of time and would prefer to spend my time researching and writing, which I enjoy, rather than doing surveys/market research/playing games, which I don't like so much.
Good luck, and when you've made you fortune let me know and I'll eat humble pie.
Thanks for taking a look. You are right everyone promoting on the site wants something they dont just give you points for free as we have already discussed. I have not given away any information I was not happy to give. I do the surveys, in fact I do just one survey a day mostly from the same provider thats my only goal. All I give for that is my opinion nothing else. The only information you need to give for those is an email. It is not required that you give the same email you set up with so I created a new hotmail account for that purpose. I spend 10 mins a day doing a survery I make 100 points ($1 or 65p) and I leave. I have 5668 points made in just under 2 months. I have very few referrals but the amount of traffic hitting my sign up links grows by the day. From yesterday to today the amount of people hitting my links has risen by over 40%. Eventually the amount of people siging up will increase simply due to the number of visitors thats when a decent free income will kick in. That has nothing to do with surveys that is linked to what I do here on Squidoo, Yahoo, google, tumblr, pinterest etc etc. This is my ultimate goal, income that generates itself from work I have already done even when I am in bed sleeping.
Thanks for taking a look. You have your 250 points to spend should you wish but think you need to confirm your email, maybe a bone of contention there eh :)
Ive a new Hub to release later or in the morning and I'll also follow you once I finish. Have a good one and thanks for your time.
Anyonme who is scammed by one of these sites deserves what they get!
I think that's a little unfair Petah, that's then just punishing someone for not having the knowledge to avoid such things (which may seem very obvious to you and I) but in desperate times some people will try just about anything. The purpose of my Hub was to help people identify these kinds of scams, and highlight this particular website, and therefore help to prevent more people getting caught out.
Thanks for visiting.
mooboomoo Hub Author 3 months ago
Immediately after publishing this Hub and managing my Facebook and Twitter links I can see that the ad to the right hand side of my Hub is the one that started me off on this article! It's not surprising as it will have been matched to the content of this Hub. I would love to have more control over the ads that are shown on my page so that I could remove potentially harmful content, even if it does mean that I might lose $0.01 in ad revenue!