There are plenty of ways to earn money online but there are also plenty of earn money online scams around, if you know what I mean. You see, almost everyone who has the intention to earn some side income or main income from the internet has this thought that it’s easy, simple and once you got it right, you will become an instant millionaire. Or that you will suddenly be getting thousands a month without doing anything much.
HAH.
If it’s that easy, almost any blogger will be an instant millionaire. And the worst of it is that there are thousands of make money online scams that countless people have fallen for. A lot of people were duped by the convincing sales talk and emails that they willingly part with some money in hopes of becoming an instant millionaire without any hard work.
Well, I have come across many of these scams and honestly, I had fallen for quite a few of them (in the early years when I started finding ways to earn money online)! Luckily I didn’t lose a lot of money, just my pride. How could I have fallen for the sweet sales talk when I knew there are scams abound? Stupid, right? Well, all I can say is that I was too naive to believe all those emails that the scammers sent to me all those years ago. Now, I am not so eager to believe any of these sales talk. If fact, I view every single ‘golden opportunity to earn money online’ with suspicion.
So, how do you differentiate between a scam and a real bona fide earn money online or work at home scheme? Here are some tips to help you differentiate between a scam and a real work at home / earn money online deal.
1. If it is titled as a ‘work at home opportunity’, ALWAYS remember that you DO NOT need to pay to work at home. If they require you to pay $39.90 or something like that to receive a whole package that will launch you on your ‘work at home’ opportunity and help you earn thousands just by ‘filling forms’ or ‘completing surveys’ or with just 15 minutes of online work a day, then it is likely a scam. Nobody should ever need to pay to work at home.
2. Earn $100 daily with just 15 minutes work each day: Again, this is another tempting line to draw you in and then scam you into paying them to earn the $100 daily. Usually they will be selling some ebook or some programme or other and they will promise that once you buy that product, you will be on your way to earning $100 per day or more.
3. A convincing testimony by some guy/ woman who claimed to be earning thousands each week from this secret formula they found and that just a year ago, they were struggling to pay their debts and was living in a squalid rented room. They will use all tactics to convince you that you simply must buy their secret formula ebook / program so that you can become like them too. Like I’ve said countless times before, it is NEVER that easy to earn thousands online. Anyone claiming to be able to do so with hardly any work done and using a secret formula is probably doing it by scamming you into giving them the money!
4. Testimonies by a lot of people claiming to have benefited from a special earn money online program and that the best part is that it is free. All you need to do is to register and they will send the ebook to you immediately. So, this does not involve you paying them so it can’t be a scam right? Wrong. Scammers are smarter now. They know many people are not so easily duped anymore so they devise another way to rope you in. First they send you some basic ebook with very scant information. Then they rope you in by asking you to join their program for only $9.99 per month (or some other amount) and soon you will be earning thousands. See? Nothing is free.
5. Not exactly scams but e-MLM is also another scheme on the rise and there are many out there that you can’t really trust. Some require you to pay hundreds or even thousands to join as a member and promises that once you join they will give you a free website page to recruit other new members and once you get more new members, you will be earning back the hundreds/ thousands you paid to join in a few days’ time. Some of these MLM schemes don’t even have any real products and seem to exist only to get new members. Be very careful. As for those with real products, check it out to make sure these are legit products. Also check the company before joining. If you do join, just know that it is never all that easy to earn commissions for getting new members.
6. Black hat tactics that will make you rich instantly – black hat tactics are illegal ways to cheat and earn money using ways that Google frowned upon. These may seem fine and fast and a great way to become rich fast but beware. Your websites using these tactics may be banned and your google adsense account may be banned permanently once they caught you. Also, this is not long term. It may work in the beginning but it won’t last.
7. ‘Become a copywriter and earn big bucks fast even if you can’t write’ – this is another scam that will get you to buy their ebook/program to become a ‘copywriter’ and start earning thousands writing copies for people. Like I said earlier, you should not be paying to get work. If you want to earn money online by writing, then check out the paid post sites or even go to freelance sites where real people are looking for freelance writers.
8. Double and triple your affiliate sales with this program – this is another scam to get you to pay them to give you some crappy useless program / ebook that will not double or triple your affiliate sales but will definitely fatten their pockets.
9. Just pay $20 for this ‘Become an instant internet millionaire’ ebook and you get a sales page exactly like this and you will be able to sell this ebook for $20 and the whole sum goes to you – in other words, it means ‘I am scamming people of $20 to become rich so now it’s your turn to do the same’. The worst of this is that the ebook is most likely full of crap and you will find that you can’t get anyone to buy the ebook from your ’sales page’.
10. ’This is not a scam. I only want to help you because I know what it’s like.’ – a phrase like that is enough to make me run a mile. Nobody wants to ‘help’ without earning something from you especially if the ’sales page’ is full of sales talk of how the ebook/ program has made them richer, better, etc.
Okay, some of those scenarios above may even describe real bona fide earn money online sites. So, how do we know if these sites are for real? That’s the hardest part. You will really need to check out the site and see for yourself if what they are offering makes sense. If it’s a program that helps you in your online work but does not promise you millions or thousands, then it is worth checking out. Also, you should do a search and check out what others are saying about the program.
If it’s a membership site, you have to be extra careful because it means you have to pay them a sum each month. Do check out their site first and then do the same thing, check for reviews and other things that other bloggers are saying about them. If you can’t find anything, send them an email asking them about their refund policy, etc. If there’s no immediate reply, be extra careful. Or if the reply is a generic email, be more careful. You want to deal with a real person, not some auto-generated emails. More often than not a lot of these sites offer free tours of the site so do check out the sites to ensure that it is what you are looking for.
Meanwhile, why not just stick to the more trusted ways of earning money online through paid posts, adsense income or even affiliate sales. At least you are not paying someone your hard earned money for no reason.
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