Buyer Beware
Out here on today’s internet there is so much “Buyer Beware” type scenarios it’s almost unbelievable. There are a few internet scams to avoid. They follow a common thread a lot because they have been successful for years. There are millions of new internet users every day. A virtual pool of marks so to speak.
Most are obvious if you have been around and been scammed before as yours truly has. A websites look is a dead giveaway. If it looks like it was just thrown together, watch out. But many of these scammers today have skills. They can produce great looking sites with powerful copy written to get you to buy.
I am always trolling the net for legitimate work at home jobs and opportunities so I run into many different looks. What I am going to share with you is my opinion from being around internet marketing for years in one way or another.
In the News
An extremely popular format is the Fake news article. A site is setup with the logo of a legitimate news authority or a similar looking identity. Then an article is presented about as local resident who is making a fortune on the internet and so can you. The local idea is a hook for sure.
Watch out for that local resident ploy. They can have your ip address located geographically, automatically having you mapped in. The same site will display multiple locations as needed to.
Haven’t I seen you before?
I have seen the same pictures depicted from several areas sometimes even with different names. Look here this mother and child have appeared in several different places. Must be somebodies niece, hehe. Only joking.
She even claims to make different amounts. That can always be a red light also. And if the amounts in the article just don’t make any sense. X amount a day as opposed to hourly or monthly or yearly amounts. Look at this example
Take the smaller amount divided by the larger amount of hours and you get 166+ $ per hour while she claimed
A good flag to watch out for is the get rich quick display. Telling you how much was made in a short period of time. Even a classic come on is showing a check from PayPal or Amazon. These things are easy to create in a decent publishing program.
More Clues
Another clue for me; whether I’m right or not is a point of discussion. I hate the one page landing page wanting my contact info without giving me any information whatsoever. A legitimate operation would spell out there offer in detail to give you enough information to make a decision. A dead giveaway I think.
Then on that fake news page deal you can probably scroll to the bottom and see a disclaimer of some sort that this isn’t a real news item just a depiction. Bing, bing, bing RUN. You can also note that most of the links don’t work, only the ones leading to there sales page.
One thing I have learned is that there is no real get rich quick schemes except winning the lottery and you all know those odds. There are ways to get the ball rolling in your favor though. It’s common knowledge that affiliate marketing is one of the cheapest ways to get into the internet business. What you have to know is that although the monetary investment may be small the time and effort is not easy street. It is certainly not a get rich quick scheme. Check out a previous article on what affiliate marketing is. You can also see a comparison with MLM.
I do have a recommendation for you, Wealthy Affiliate, see my review!
Have you been scammed? Do you have any clues you want to share? Leave a reply or comment. I would love to hear from you. Go ahead and shoot me an email at
Hey Darragh, very god read and i feel like I learned some very useful tips from this!
I had honestly never though of the fake news article one, so i should definitely keep that in mind!
As for your last section on how they ask for your details before giving any information, I would totally agree that that is a tell tale sign of a scam, never found a legitimate money making opportunity which is set up like that!
Alasdair
Thanks for stopping by. I am glad you got something from the info. You have to be so careful nowadays, there are so many ways the scammers can get you! A legitimate opportunity will always explain everything up front and the best will let you try it out!
Dennis