• Enlarge my penis (especially amusing when they begin "Dear Susan, Are you unhappy with the size of your penis...) Being a woman named Susan, I haven't GOT a male organ to enlarge.
• Make me an instant millionaire if I only send them $1,000  
• Give me the secret product that will allow me to lose all my unwanted body fat without having to diet or exercise, for only a small fee

                         

I've always considered myself to be of at least average intelligence, and scoffed quietly to myself at the possibility of anyone smart enough to turn on their computers actually falling for the above scams. However now methinks I scoffed too soon.

I recently fell victim to a con artist who's opening gambit wasn't quite so blatantly a scam, or at least when I read it, it didn't send off the appropriate warning bells for me! This con involved sending $1.99 in order to get information on available government grants. As one of my many roles is to serve as the President of a local chapter of a National non-profit organization, I read it and thought "terrific! Maybe we can get a grant to send several of our members for a training program" and filled out the forms, complete with my credit card number to pay for that teensy tiny less than 2 dollar fee. Actually felt quite proud of myself, until my husband called me the next day to ask who the heck requestagrant.com was, and why they had billed my credit card for $79.99. Yikes!

Apparently, after the initial $1.99, there is a $78 monthly charge, which somehow doesn't show up anywhere on the website. Attempting to cancel the "plan" is even harder, as the phone number listed is not answered, and the email request to cancel states that cancellation must be made within 7 days, or the fee is increased to the "full" amount of over 100 dollars per month. Louder Yikes from me.  Several emails later, with the tone escalating to my threatening legal action, I finally received one stating that my "membership" had been cancelled. Whew.

At the same time, my husband was cancelling out that credit card account, denying the charge, and explaining to our account manager what had happened. Thankfully, it was caught in time. And I have learned a huge lesson.

First of all, information about government grants is free. Duh. Secondly, grants are usually given to geographical regions or large institutions, and my little chapter with our 28 members would never be considered for a grant of any kind anyway. All of this is good to know.

More importantly however, I was reminded of, and completely relearned the old slogan "Don't believe anything you read on the Internet" (well, this being the exception, naturally!).  And of course the oldest slogan of all, "You can't get something for nothing".

Now that I've learned my lesson, I spent some time researching internet con artists, scams and fraud. I found some wonderfully informative sites where there are vast amounts of information available ( for FREE!) for people looking to protect themselves, such as www.scambusters.org and www.fraud.org . I highly recommend that anyone check out these sites and learn just how much they didn't know.

I will continue to use my computer on a daily basis, but I won't be as likely to fall victim to someone else's get rich quick scheme. And I won't be providing THEM with grant (aka gift) funds from my own personal account.

                     

       I have wasted my precious time being working with that fraud website. I think there is no single paid to surf website which is legit. I suggest every one out there don’t join any paid to surf website and don’t waste your precious time.

Sure, if you want to be hard-nosed, you can charge the buyer an extra price for the gas you'll end up spending driving to their house and back, but I doubt their interest in your item will remain high when they learn they'll have to pay an extra $20 on top of the listing price.

So the next best bet is to ship the item out via the post office. Where the problem lies is in the trust factor. Unlike Ebay, where you can use their online PayPal service to ensure that the buyer gets their item, and the seller gets their money, Craigslist and Kijiji depend on both parties trusting the other to keep their end of the deal. If you're already going through these two classifieds sites, chances are you're doing so because you don't want to pay the many surcharges Ebay and PayPal tack on just before your item sells on their auction site.

Trust. It used to exist in the past, and it still does right now, albeit not as much. If you send out your item prior to receiving the money, how do you know the buyer won't just take your item and not pay you? But on the other hand, if you send out the money prior to receiving the item, how do you know the seller won't just steal your money and not send out what you purchased? Kind of a chicken or the egg problem, isn't it?

Personally, I consider myself lucky. I have yet to encounter a person who has "scammed" me. I work on a "Send me the money, then I send out the item" policy, but I have found quite a few people unwilling to proceed with the transaction, arguing that they've been deceived or scammed in the past by someone else. To be honest, I can't blame them. But these brainless thugs are ruining the reputations of us good guys out there.

Aside from my policy, I also charge about $5 to $15 for shipping the item, depending on the weight and dimensions of the packaging. This includes the standard $100 post office insurance policy, a signature-on-delivery to ensure the person receives it, and delivery confirmation from the post office. Why do I do all of this? Because I still believe in the trust factor - that a simple agreement still has meaning, whether it's written in an email or spoken over the phone. Even in the 21st century, not every person you encounter is a bad person.

I did an internet search on one of the companies, but their address and phone number didn't come up on the white or yellow page directory.  I called my sister because I remember that she had received something similar in the mail a few months ago.  Now, I knew this was too good to be true, but when you're in need, you want to believe that you've won a lump sum of money.  PLEASE BEWARE.  IF you won a lump sum of money, the company or organization wouldn't be concerned with whether or not you pay the taxes - that would be on you.  Also, a reputable company or organization would not request that you keep your winnings a secret - they would want to use your name and face for promotional purposes. 

I had to post this because it makes me angry when people try to get over on (SCAM) other people.  And I don't know if these scam artists' are pulling information from these scholarship search engines, but I just thought it was strange that my son received these letters after we registered on these sites.    

Three of many signs to beware of:

1.Never sign up for a job or business opportunity because it sounds so good. It is too good to be true.

2.Any promise of overnight success or get rich quick are only traps. You may put money in but little or none will return.

3.Beware of jobs that require you to pay a large fee, for example pay $197 to process information for different companies. Will you actually get back $197 processing any kind of information? It does not makes sense.

On a positive note, you have help from resources for the purpose of you finding the right job for you. One good resource material is the Internet Wealth Report. It is not about getting rich but how to avoid scammers and step by step how to start your own business. The other resource is the consumerrated website where there are volunteers who have work at different jobs and can give you input on which ones work. Be sure to examine these. High regards to you.

http://www.internetwealthreport.info/?id=Mona

http://www.consumerrated.com

You've probably heard it so many times it seems cliché. You’ve seen all the magazine ads, sales letters and web pages about easy ways to earn lots of money

in your spare time. Some even suggest you can become enormously wealthy.

I'm not going to name names here. I'm sure you've seen how these operators try to grab your attention. Using such come-ons like "Make $150 a day typing at home."

"Earn extra money filling company surveys." "Make money with Google." "Make money while you sleep." "Earn money online with no product and no web site."

And it's not just income opportunities. Weight loss is another market bombarded by hype. There are supplements, appetite suppressants, and information products, all promising to be THE solution to your stubborn fat or uncontrollable appetite.

The travel and tourism industry is also full programs promising to save you thousands of dollars on all the vacations you'll be taking for the rest of your life. Most of them ask for a large, up-front membership fee. Are they worth it?

There is a way you can prevent yourself from being swindled. Rest assured there are good products, programs, systems and courses being promoted online.

Whether it's earning money, losing weight, going on vacations, saving money on prescriptions, credit repair... the all too familiar questions remain "This all sounds too good to be true. "Will I end up feeling like a fool or will I pass on a good deal?"

Don’t reach for your credit card yet. There is something you need to do first.

If there is any kind of scam, or the company hasn't lived up to its promises, chances are there will be reports published by consumer groups and forum postings by disgruntled customers. The Internet has made it a lot easier for ordinary individuals to "blow the whistle" on these modern day snake oil merchants.

How do you find all these reviews, reports and forum postings by disgruntled customers? Just like you would find any other kind of information on the web.

“See what you can Google up on this…” has become a popular expression nowadays.

Open another browser window. Get the name of the product, company, author, etc. Log onto Google and enter the name of the company and/or program or product. Use the names of the people involved. Enter these in the text blank.

You might have to do an advanced search if your initial query did not return

any reports of fraudulent practices. Here’s how to do an effective Google Advanced Search for product reviews and cautionary reports on possible fraud. Click on the Advanced Search link on the Google home page to the right of the query blank. Notice these three form blanks. Find web pages that have...

Blank 1. all these words:

Blank 2. this exact wording or phrase:

Blank 3. one or more of these words:

There are other form fields on the advanced search page but they are relatively unimportant. The Three above are the essentials.

Blank 1: words describing the product, like home, typing, surveys, forms, etc.

Blank 2: the name of the site or company or program.

Blank 3: any three of the following: scam, fraud, complaint, review, report.

I would always include the word 'scam' since this alerts you to the possibility of dealing with a swindler or accepting a fraudulent offer.

Alternatively you could place the company name (if just one word) and the web site URL in Blank 1, plus perhaps a few important keywords and/or the name of the 'guru' touting the program. Omit the http:, the www. and even the .com of the URL.

On Blank 2 you would type a phrase taken directly from the web page

in question relating to the product or program promoted, for example

"Typing at home" or "Filling out surveys".

Once again, always include 'scam' in Blank 3.

Once the search listings are displayed, look for the descriptions that either sing praise of the product or warn you that it is a scam. Right click on the link in the listing and select “Open in a new tab”. Open three tabs and examine each page to start forming your basis for whether what you’re considering getting is worth whatever the asking price.

I’m sure if the site in question is a shady operator, you’ll find a listing for a forum post in www.scam.com.

After reading at least five different reports, articles and forum postings, you’ll be able to make a more intelligent and informed decision about whether or not to become involved in whatever they’re trying to sell you. It is always best to read what amounts to ‘third party testimonials’ or independent evaluations of the offer.

Especially when someone else expresses dissatisfaction with the purveyors of fraudulent schemes and programs.

If you see favorable reviews, your more likely to be satisfied with your decision.

At the very least, it’s the best way to avoid being burned.

I used to do online surveys for advertisers seeking reactions from consumers regarding new products, packaging/labeling, cost, existing products, etc. My favorite surveys were of new commercials for television. Those are fun! Some of the best commercials that I reviewed were the early Maxwell House coffee TV ads featuring homebuilder/contractor aficionado Mike Holmes. Those were brilliant! Better than ‘upcoming previews’ at the movies, this was like a ‘special screening’ of a much anticipated new movie! And I got to have a say on whether is good, great or uninteresting. It is your opinion that they seek, for if the commercial is not good they improve it based upon consensus opinions! How neat is that!

Some Trustworthy Online Survey Sites

There are hundreds of online survey sites out there eager for you sign up and use them. Some of the best are listed below. These are just a few of the many that I have used and feel that I trust:

• LightSpeed
• SurveySavvy
• SurveyLion
• MindfieldOnline
• SurveySpot
• FreePayingSurveys

My favorites online survey sites are SurveyLion and SurveySpot. Their surveys are easy to complete, well-written, and the reward payment worthwhile. I have earned some mad cash with LightSpeed too (link above) but this is achieved via an earned points system, redeemable for cash or gifts. I usually won’t do business with any survey site that doesn’t handle payments either by PayPal or personal checks via postal, or only offer 'coupons', 'retailer credit' or 'gift certificates.' LightSpeed is one of my exceptions in regards to 'earned points' rewards. They DO pay cash for accumulated points if that is what you wish, so I do continue to take their surveys.

Above is just a partial list of the many survey sites that I have been or currently am still a member of. Some survey sites I had signed up with proved to be a dismal disappointment. I had signed up with “OpinionOutpost” and only received one or two surveys, one at about every six months or so. And in both cases, I either failed to meet some nebulous minimum requirement or, even though I had taken the survey within minutes or an hour of receiving the e-mail notification, I was told at the end of the survey that;

“…this survey has reached it’s targeted number of participants for your demographic and has been closed.”

I’ll write about that next.

Too Many Requirements

And while the following link did provide some useful site data and led me to additional contacts, thesurveypro.com has a requirement that you must ‘register at 20 of the Top 25 Survey Sites’ that they provide and this is a little too shady for my taste. I seem to recall that 19 of these recommended sites were legitimate, trustworthy sites that could be found elsewhere on the web by their own merits. But the rest of this ‘list’ to pick and choose from to attain your “pick 20” were some kind of ‘webinar’ or 'web-commercial' that you would have to sit through and ‘sign up’ or ‘purchase’ something at the end to qualify or continue. Those endless ‘how many of THESE intrusive pop-up spammy-ads do you want to sign up for?’ seemed inexhaustible. We used to call those kinds of sign-up forms ‘popcorn.’ -A rather extensive and mind-numbing list of offers that you ‘tick’ the checkbox next to it. Then, you submit your sign-up page to move on to the next survey page. You cannot proceed without ticking at least ONE spammy offer. You will be presented with about a quarter-dozen more of these pages before you reach paydirt at the end, -if you ever do at all. Well, you will learn by the end of the first week or two how to create wildcard filters for your e-mail client to catch & kill junkmail as you WILL be getting many innovative and insistent spam-mails by the dozens I can guarantee that! Just be careful about creating 'blind filters' for specific text in the SUBJECT line. For instance; an 'e-mail filter' that blindly blocks any unsolicited ad containing the word "Cialis" (the male 'performance-enhancement' drug,) will have far-reaching effects. The 'wildcard block' might look like "*Cialis*" in your e-mail filter and it will stop e-mails containing this word used anywhere in the SUBJECT line, but this will also block e-mails containing the word "Specialist" as well! This could be a problem if you are an engineer, draftsman or perform any service that is considered 'specialized' and you receive work-related or job-offer e-mails in this same e-mail account.

This filter would also block any e-mail with the word "Socialist" so there is a good side to this too I suppose. Best yet, create a dedicated e-mail account and use that one account exclusively for your 'online surveys.' No personal contacts, no forum use. Just surveys. This dedicated e-mail is also useful to identify which sites re storing 'tracking cookies' on your computer, too. But that is for another article.

This dedicated e-mail account is deletable if the situation become too tenuous and impossible to continue, and your security and privacy are left intact. For your Online Surveys if you need to change e-mail accounts, just create a NEW account and switch over to it from your survey host's option board.

Too Much Stick And Almost No Carrot

All those endless Sign-Up for a $1000.00 Shopping Card from Wal-Mart offers only fill your e-mail box with DOZENS of similar offers. –You just have to meet their impossible and esoteric requirements to get the promised shopping card. Generally, you are required to buy several hundred dollars of ‘qualifying merchandise’ that you otherwise would not even want. Next, you get a half-dozen or more of your best friends in your ‘downlevel’ to do the same thing after you have referred them via their personal e-mail addresses and only after THEY TOO have also signed-on and purchased several hundred dollars of stuff, do YOU get the promised $1000.00 shopping card. It has a definite ‘pyramid’-like structure to it, huh?

You will have no friends left at the end of this but you can get your $1000.00 shopping card. Maybe

Avoid those offers. They are scams. It took me a few months to get off of some insistent mailing spammer lists for the early signing-up I undertook before backing out of the offer. They had already at that point nailed my e-mail address and I started receiving offers for pharma products like Viagra and Cialis and information on 'how to 'increase the size and girth of my you-know-what' that very first night!

–That promised “$10.00 in 30-minutes” at “thesurveypro” is probably real but you have to jump through some ugly hoops to get there. They keep changing the Suggested Survey Sign-Up Sites too. You sign up for twenty sites on their list and turn in your ‘proof’, -they have CHANGED the list again! I failed to complete this requirement and for the pithy requirements stated above. I suspect that many others have stopped short also.

I had only completed 19 of the required 20 ‘sign-ups’ through them without having to purchase something, turn over my computer's Address Book or practically sell door-to-door for them. Friends don’t sign-up friends for these offers, no! I could not do just one more of the remaining requirements (I only had to do ONE more to qualify!) Ten dollars was not worth it. Your results may vary but I seriously doubt it.

And never, ever PAY anyone or any company to 'refer online surveys' to you! STOP! These are 100% guaranteed RIP-OFFS. Advertisers WANT you to take their survey and they pay YOU for doing so. Not the other way around.

A New Trend in Online Surveys?

I have been declining more and more online surveys since about the First of the New Year. I have grown weary of a recent trend towards not rewarding with immediate payouts, but the ‘reward’ is cumulative. One completes a 15 or 20-minutes survey and instead of a cash reward at the end, you ‘earn points’ that accrue for months until you have enough to redeem for merchandise at ‘select retailers’ of their choosing. While these retailers might include such notable places such as chapters.indigo.ca or amazon.com, -which are excellent places to shop, I just find it very limiting. I prefer to make my own choice where to redeem or shop. Pay me cash. It really is just that simple.

Read my lips: CASH IS KING! Don’t pay me with ‘store credit’ or a 'gift coupon.' Pay me in CASH or step aside.

Doing It On the Cheap

Another trend in online surveys which bugs me terribly is this “…if you qualify for our survey, a $3.00 honorarium will be paid’. These can be legit but way too often in my extensive experience you still get shafted. The diminutive reward is part of the rip-off. If they offered, say, $25.00 and did what I am about to explain, they would get buried alive with complaints!

You will undertake a 10 to 15-minute survey and when almost finished, the very last screen shown to you is a dismissive;

“…we are sorry. -You do not meet the minimum requirements that our advertiser is seeking”

and the survey is effectively ended. You are 'opted out' and will receive nothing. They HAVE your data now. You completed the survey. But they changed the rules and terminated the survey. You were just voted off of the Island. Without pay.

Another ‘easy out’ for them is that you take the survey and some 20-minutes into it, the almost last-screen reads something like;

“…we are sorry, but this survey has reached its quota for the select group of which you were competing”

and again, they now HAVE your data and the survey has closed. Ended, without you getting paid. At only $3.00 per denied survey, it would take a Class Action Lawsuit (and a lawyer willing to work on-the-cheap) to actually fight against this. Even at that, it would take over a year probably to align enough people together to sign-on, review the complaint and determine the damages. Most people just ‘give up’ over a three-dollar promise-broken. I know that I have.

I will bend over soiled candy wrappers and brown dental floss on the ground to pick up a dirty penny but I will not take a $3.00 online survey. Why? -The penny lying on the sidewalk is a sure thing. The $3.00 survey is not.

And The Survey Says…

Having said all of this, I will continue to say that most Online Surveys are legitimate and worthwhile. Over the course of maybe 6 or 7 months of doing this actively and nearly two years of doing it selectively, I probably have taken maybe one hundred+ surveys. I failed to qualify for probably that many more. Of all those, I probably made several hundred dollars.

My most profitable survey was this one-hour survey that I could take in two parts. The payout on that was $65.00-USD and it was VERY enjoyable. I got to take it to completion and was thanked profusely at the end of the survey. I also received the payment promptly. These things made me feel important and valuable. Those are the shining examples of what Online Surveys should be like.

I am probably not the best target market for 70% or more of the available surveys out there, but you may be. Your personal or familial demographic may be some retailers dream and there are always online surveys waiting for you regarding food, drink, consumer products, HBA (Health & Beauty Aids,) lifestyle, clothing and more. Best of luck to you if decide to try Online Surveys. It can be very rewarding and satisfying.

It can also be very frustrating and mind numbingly tiresome.

Ways to be sure not to get scammed:

• Don’t give out credit card information on these offers.
• Read what you need to do in order to get credit, and not wind up doing extra work, taking extra time.
• Don’t trade or pay for referral guides, they don’t work, create your own tactic.

A site I use is Rewards1. A survey site is where you can get around an average of 50 cents a survey offer. A survey takes 5 min. most of the time. If you do the math, that's 6 dollars a hour! Not to bad. A problem that comes up, is offers sometimes not crediting or not enough offers to do. This site also has referring people as an option. You can receive 20%. I will be honest. I have only earned 20 dollars in 2 months, about 80% in the first month. I have referred 44 people and earned a little over 4 dollars from referrals.

I have done only 20 offers. Not too bad for a little of my time, and also because one offer credited 6 dollars to my account and took a little longer to do. You can also order prizes straight from the site or custom order from another site. Another site, which is rather the same, is prize rebel. Works the same as rewards1. When you get a chance, check out these sites.

This E Mail was supposedly right from the IRS.GOV. It was complete with calculations that it said were based on my fiscal spending, and the amount I would receive. I was owed $629.00. Of course with a convenient link. You know for forms and information they would need to have your refund processed within 6-9 days.

Sound familiar to any of you? It may, because according to one IRS Representative I spoke with they had received multiple calls just this morning, and it was currently under investigation. As a dutiful American. As someone who complains about people who see something wrong and do not do anything, I had vowed to follow through with contacting the IRS VIA a live person, no matter what. Let me tell you it was not easy.

I tried every available number I could find. Held 15 - 20 minutes on more than one occasion before giving up because it was taking too long. You are only given so many options, and each one leads to a pre recorded wait. Since I had determined to get through to a live person, I sighed as the recorded message warned me that the wait time was currently 20 + minutes. Concerned about others being scammed I held in there. I waited and paced through 40 long, long minutes of horrible canned music, until I was finally connected with a very polite representative, who introduced himself as number .

We discussed the problem of getting the warning out there. I asked what about a formal announcement? He said yes he wished that could happen it was a good idea. I guess it is up to citizen journalist to be watchdogs for the everyday Joe. I was told that these E mails are most likely linked to some kind of pay pal Email account. DO NOT CLICK THE LINK!!! Sometimes that's all they need .They come and go quickly, hit your bank account and are gone before the victim even knows what happened.

I did go ahead and click the link while on the phone with the IRS agent, unfortunately it had already been a few days since it arrived, and the account had a quite fake looking "Account Under Suspension" web page. They had probably moved on, but left that message so the recipient will think, oh well account suspended, must have been caught. The IRS representative has recommended spreading the word. You will Never receive an initial contact from the IRS regarding a refund.

With so many Americans wondering where their stimulus check is, or why they didn't receive one, there is a large population out there that are vulnerable if they do not know of this current scam.The IRS recently announced that many couples who have been looking for their stimulus checks will be receiving them soon. Some of them may just click the link. It would be a disaster for a family already struggling financially . Imagine all the checks you wrote for bills coming back marked insufficient funds. Now you not only have late payments and possibly even shut offs of utilities, but bank fees also that will make your head spin.

The IRS agent has asked that anyone who receives one of these emails to please forward to the following address: phishing@IRS.gov