Money making SCAMS abound in the online world. Knowing how to spot them will keep them from draining your bank account.
We’ve all heard the pitch. A big sales page with lots of eye candy that assures you of practically overnight success with their secret money-making system. Yea right. If it’s so secret, why the heck are you going tell everyone about it. But then you see that they are only offering it to the next 100 people that sign up, and the clock’s ticking. They are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. WRONG
Unfortunately, there are a lot of money-making scams that seem really legit, but underneath they are full of hype, false promises, rehashed data you can find for free, or just complete garbage that’s spiced up to sound like something good. So I’ve put together a list of things you should avoid like the plague when it comes to making money online, and how to avoid online money making SCAMS.
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Get Rich Quick Schemes
This one is at the top of my list, and for good reason. People fall for these SCAMS every day. These schemes come in every flavor. They can be very elaborate and well-thought-out. Many may truly seem legitimate, with lots of bells and whistles. They’ll lure you in with phony data showing hundreds of dollars in daily sales. Well, today anyone can use Photoshop or GIMP to create really impressive sales reports.
So the bottom line is if it promises overnight success, or anything close to it, RUN. I’ve never, in 20 years seen anything that will generate substantial money overnight, or even in a week, or a month. So aside from winning the lottery, or a one-off success story, it just ain’t happening. It takes work to build a successful business online.
Pyramid Schemes
These come and go, and most of these scammers are long gone before the whole thing collapses. We used to see these a lot via snail mail, but with the advent of the internet, all the scammers have moved online. The mode of operation is the same though. You make a small investment with the promise of huge returns. You recruit others into the scheme through social networks, email, etc. with the same premise, with the goal of the scammer being to collect as much money as possible from your recruitment efforts. If real products are ever exchanged they are usually over-priced junk used to disguise the purpose of the business.
There is a very real risk of losing A LOT of money to these scammers. The scheme relies on an endless supply of members to stay afloat, but this typically collapses very quickly. Stay away! Not only are they illegal, but they may break the bank, as well as all of your personal relationships.
Product Upsells
I’ve fallen for this one myself. An online money making SCAM that starts with a small sign up fee. Once you get in, they spoon-feed you enough to lure into the upsell. It goes something like this: You sign up for the latest and greatest money-making program that’s taking the internet by storm. Once you sign up you receive just enough information to make you realize that you need to buy into the first upsell, which is, let’s say, a little more expensive. But then you realize, through their series of upsells, you can make money a lot faster if you upgrade to Gold, or something like that, where the price starts to get really expensive. Typically, the upsells just end up costing you a lot of money with no return. You may receive eBooks, Videos, and other stuff, but it’s usually half-baked worthless information or stuff you could have gotten yourself for free on the internet.
False Job Opportunities
These money-making scams you’ll find on places like Craigslist, email, or other job posting sites. The jobs will offer you great pay for some small job you can do on your computer or at home. They can be disguised as job offers for personal assistants, envelope stuffing, product assembly, or in the case of money laundering SCAMS they’ll send you money which you have to then forward on to someone else for which you earn a commission.
Those jobs that claim to pay you for assembling a product or envelope stuffing will rarely pay you what was agreed upon. They will claim the work was sub-par and refuse to pay you.
Fake Product SCAMS
These scammers will use the names of big companies to perpetuate their scam. Using the name of a big name company deceives you into thinking you’re dealing with something legit. They will create deceptive, elaborate websites promoting their wares under the big company name. People pay for brand names, and they know this and take advantage of it.
Fake product scams can also be hard to spot. They’ll use domain names that appear to belong to the big name company to make it seem all the more legit. Websites will have the name brand logo’s and have the same look as the big company as well. The bottom line here is to keep in mind that overnight success or promises of riches are a SCAM. Look for the subtle differences in their websites and domains. And most important, research the product.
In Conclusion
Be vigilant when looking at online making opportunities, there are many types of money-making scams. Do your research, and understand that financial gain always requires that you’re trading something of real value for money. You can make a lot of money online through legitimate methods such as Affiliate Marketing, but it’s not going to come overnight. Get the proper training, proper tools, and find a community of people who are already successful that can help you along the way.
If you have a real interest in Affiliate Marketing I invite you to join me at Wealthy Affiliate where you can sign up for a free starter account, no credit card needed.
Wishing you great success
Michael
