|
|
|
|
|
Making Money Online:
The Seven Deadly Scams
There are plenty of scams on the Internet relating to moneymaking programs. Anyone coming to the Internet in search of a job or an opportunity to make money online or a legitimate way to work at home is at risk of being snared by one or more of these scam programs.
Falling for an online scam can happen to anyone; you don’t need to be super-stupid to get taken in by a plausible-looking money making opportunity. Scams don't come with a health warning or skull and crossbones logo. The Internet does not come with a map and there are no signposts to help newcomers, you have to learn by experience and pick up clues as you pick your way through the mines spread across the Internet by the scammers. I don’t mind admitting I fell for a couple of make money scams when I was searching online for work and it was a matter of luck more than common-sense that I got out without losing any cash. These are my nominations for the seven deadliest make money scams to be found online:
1. Money Doublers.
These were all over the Internet a couple of years ago. They disappeared quite suddenly but are now sneaking back online and some of them are attempting to disguise themselves as home business opportunities. They are definitely not business opportunities unless you want to make it your business to lose money. These programs claim that they will pay you back double the amount you pay in (usually within a few days). If you join one of these schemes, you might well get double your money back but if you are tempted to continue to “invest”, you will eventually lose out. The money the program pays to you is obtained from people who join the program after you. In a little while, there will be a shortfall between the amount “invested” by new members and the amount needed to pay out. The first sign that the end is coming is that you don’t get paid and don’t get a reply to your emails querying what has happened. By that time, the program owner has run off with all the members’ money.
2. Chain Emails.
These are just a modernised version of the old fashioned chain letters, they have just been updated for Internet use. They tell you all you have to do to make a huge sum of money is send a couple of dollars to the person at the top of the list and add your name at the bottom of the list. The only person who gets anything out of this scam is the person who starts the chain. If you get one of these emails, it will almost certainly contain a line reassuring you that the scheme is perfectly legal. It isn’t, and if you take part in one of these scams, you could find yourself being prosecuted for fraud. Don’t waste your time or money on these.
3. Get Paid To Autosurf
At one time it was possible to make money from get paid to autosurf programs. It started out with programs offering you the chance to become a paid member and earn back a percentage of your subscription each day. A typical set up would be that you would earn 1% per day of your paid membership level by surfing 100 websites belonging to other members of the program. The money part of the deal was always a form of gambling rather than legitimate work. The purpose of the program was to give you the opportunity to have your website seen by other members in return for you viewing their sites. The money was just a bonus and was never guaranteed but for a long time surfing was a safe way to get a little extra cash while advertising your websites. The whole get paid to surf industry collapsed suddenly due to the dishonest actions of a payment processing program (not PayPal, I hasten to add) whose owners stole millions of dollars of members’ money. Paid surfing was once a low risk wager, it is now a high-risk gamble; the only winners are the owners of the programs. Many autosurf for cash websites are launched for the sole purpose of stealing money from members before the site owners disappear without trace.
4. Email Processing
This is one online money making scam that actually looks as if it could be a legitimate way to earn money. The programs require you to place advertisements online to attract new members. When an enquiry is received, you copy/paste and send a series of instructions by email to the interested party. This seemed so above-board that I almost got sucked in. Right at the last minute, I suddenly wondered why a company would pay me quite a good rate to process emails when they could use an autoresponder to do the same job faster and for a fraction of the cost.
5. High Yield Investment Programs (HYIP)
These programs pull in members because they promise huge returns on investments and will accept deposits of very small sums. The explanation of how this can be achieved is that, by pooling all investments, the money can be invested in places that are not accessible to the small investor. It sounds very plausible that the company will act as stakeholder, collecting small amounts of money from many people and invest the funds once they amount to enough to earn high interest rates. There are issues associated with HYIP’s such as money laundering, illegal transmission of funds and lack of proper licences. The biggest problem, however, is that the owners of many of these programs have no intention of investing the money for you, they just take your money and vanish.
6. The Nigerian Scam
This is an “advance fee scheme”. It is known as the Nigerian Scam because of the number of attempts to defraud that originate in that country. The scam starts with receipt of an unsolicited letter purporting to come from someone who claims to work for a Nigerian Bank or from the Nigerian government. The sender will inform you that he is seeking a reputable foreign person into whose account he can deposit funds ranging from $10-$60 million which the Nigerian government overpaid on some contract. They will, of course, pay you enough to make you rich in return for your help. If followed up, the scammers will produce very convincing documentation to support their claims. Once they have you hooked, they will tell you that an unexpected obstacle has arisen (eg a fee or other expense such as a bribe for a corrupt official) and they need an advance payment from you. With most advance fee frauds, if you hand over the fee, you won’t hear from the fraudsters again. The Nigerian scam is far more dangerous: people have been asked to take the advance fee to Nigeria and have disappeared, presumably murdered.
7. Any Program Relying On A Matrix
If you see a money making program advertising with heavy reference to a matrix, it is probably a scam. There is nothing wrong with a matrix in itself, there are legitimate Internet marketing companies which use a matrix arrangement. The programs to beware of are the ones where there is no obvious product involved, unrealistically high returns are promised, little or no effort is required from you and heavy emphasis is placed on the matrix. Never mind if they promise the matrix will be compressed, flipped, turned inside out or otherwise manipulated, it will be a scam.
Don't be afraid that every money making opportunity you see on the Internet is a scam. There are legitimate ways to make money online, as long as you avoid the scams and remember that any program that promises large rewards in return for for little investment and no effort is best avoided. If you want to make money online, you should expect to work for it. If you are unsure about a program, ask yourself the question "why would anyone pay me to do this". If you can't think of a reason, you have the answer as to whether you are looking at a scam.
>>Read More Articles about working at home and how to earn money online
>> Visit the Work At Home Directory full listing for Work At Home Ideas
|
Program Reviews
|
| Site Menu
|
Work From Home
|
Home Business
|
Getting Started
|
|
Online Safety
|
|
Online Scams
|
|
Motivation
|
|
Writing Online
|
|
Resources
|
|
|
Work At Home Directory
|
Site map
|
Meet The Owner
|
Terms Of Use
|
Privacy
|
Resources
|
Directories
|
FAQ
|
Contact
|
Blog
DISCLAIMER: Elaine Currie works at home online and enjoys sharing resources that have helped to improve her life. In doing so she has created
relationships with certain experts and in recommending their products may receive compensation for doing so.
|
Online Surveys
Work At Home No Fee