Have you ever surfed the internet looking for ways to make some extra money from home? Have you ever been scammed by a person from Nigeria who has millions to give you? Have you ever signed up to take surveys and instead got onto a sucker e-mail spam list? Have you ever ordered a “free sample”, and then had your credit card charged for $59.99 the next month? You can avoid this by being careful and reading the fine print on these websites. The following is a list of commonly used terms and what they REALLY mean!
The following scams are in bold italics. The explanation is below in standard print:
"Rebate Processor Position Available. Earn money by simply processing rebates!"
This means that you either buy things and wait to get the rebates yourself OR you join their service by paying a fee and sending the SAME e-mail to others, hoping to get them to sign up under you!
"Become Financially Independent By Running Your Own Business From Home!"
This means that you pay them the $99.99 fee (no wait, for a limited time only $49.99), and they will send you their special DVD or e-book. You will notice that on the website, they do not mention an actual PRODUCT for sale; only glossy photos of people living it up on yachts or whatever. Fall for this scam and not only will you be out $49.99 (and many times there is a recurring monthly fee), but you will also be inundated with telephone calls and e-mails from Mr. Joe Slick of lotsadollas4u.com. He will try to convince you that you are getting in on the ground floor of a lucrative opportunity, blah, blah, blah. Also beware of the ads that say “Most home business opportunities are scams, but I found a few legitimate ones. Click here.” Do yourself a favor; DON'T click!
"Lose 30 Pounds in 30 Days With Our New Miracle Formula. Try it for free!"
This means that they want you to pay $9.95 shipping for a one month supply of Slim Slam Slum Pills, for which they will require your credit card number. In REALLY TINY print at the bottom of the ad, it will state that you must cancel in 30 days or you will be billed a recurring charge of $99.99 per month. Good luck getting a customer service representative on the phone or on their website to cancel. The only thing that will get thinner is your wallet!
"Make $100 per Day Filling Out Surveys from the Comfort of your Home!"
Many of these companies just want your information so that they can get you on their marketing list. However, there ARE some legitimate survey companies out there. Realistically, though, you would be lucky to make $100 per MONTH, even if you sign up for every site there is. Check surveypolice.com to find a list of companies that were reviewed by everyday consumers. If you enjoy taking online surveys and feel that $100 per month is worth it, then by all means, give it a try!
"Make Money Reading E-mails!"
These are called paid-to-click sites. There are a few legitimate ones. Even so, they only pay from 1/10 of a penny to a few cents for each click, which you have to view for at least 30 seconds or so for the ad to credit, and it can take a long time to build up enough earnings to get any money from the site. The best way to find the good sites is by joining online community bulletin boards where there are people who make comments on the various websites. Scam.com is a good one to try. However, beware that sometimes people go on bulletin boards saying that they tried a certain site and it was legitimate, when they are really just a person working for that company, and they are trying to promote it!
"Make Money at Home doing Typing or Data Entry Work!"
Pay the $29.99 fee and you will get all the materials you need, which is either a compilation of ideas that you can find elsewhere on the internet for free, or you will get instructions to start your own “Type at Home” affiliate and get others to join under you. See? There is your typing, and you make money if you get some poor sucker to sign up under you. If you need that last $29.99 to pay your family's bills, do yourself a favor and hit DELETE when you see an e-mail like this!
"Make Money At Home by Stuffing Envelopes or Assembling Products at Home!"
These scams have been around forever, and I hope that the only thing you do when you see these ads is giggle and hit “delete!”
"Job Offer for You. Please respond right away!"
This means they will send you a bogus check, which you will deposit into your bank account and wire them money via Western Union, minus $500 which you keep as your “salary” for doing the job. Not only will you not get the $500 salary, you will owe your bank whatever amount you wired this con artist, because the check is not real!
"You Have Won, Inherited Money, Your Help is Urgently Needed, etc!"
This means that they want all of your contact information, including your bank account number so that they can draw out all of your hard earned money!
"We Notice a Security Breach in Your Account, Please Respond Immediately!"
They want you to click into the link that they “conveniently” provided for you, which may be a lookalike site to your bank, PayPal or whatever, but it is really “Shim Sham Sam the Swindler's” site. He wants you to enter your password, so that he can go into your bank account and draw out all your money. If you get a PayPal email like this, forward it to spoof@paypal.com. If you get an e-mail that claims it is your bank, Amazon.com or E-bay, close out ALL browser windows and re-enter the internet and type in the websites, log in and see if there are any messages waiting there. Chances are that they are NOT!
New scams are coming out every day, and internet can be a very dangerous place, because these con artists are getting more clever in their tactics. Remember the old cliché, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!”
Thanks for the great artical, I hope alot of peole read this and take your advice!