Why Work at Home Scams Fail

You likely know how to spot a work at home scam and that they are bad because you will never earn money form them and they will end up costing you money and wasting time. Do you know, though, why they fail? Understanding why scams fail can help you big time when new scams hit the market. There are new scams developed constantly and not everyone may be something you have heard of. That is why the more you know about scams, the better chance you have of avoiding them.

What Classifies a Scam?

A scam is a work at home opportunity where the company or person behind it is out to make money for themselves only. They never intend on people working for them to make money.

A scam also is classified by the fact that there are no real products or the products being sold are worthless junk. There is no real opportunity for this business to ever go anywhere or be successful.

A scam is not an opportunity that just doesn’t work for you. If you do not make money but it is possible that you can make money then it may be you, not the opportunity that has a problem.

Weak Points of a Scam

Perhaps the weakest point of a scam is the fact that there is no product to sell. When you have no product there is no income. Basically the only income a scam has to go off of is the money that people pay to be a part of the scam.

Scams fail because people realize it is a scam and stopping paying into it. Eventually, the money stops coming in and the person who started the scam bails out. The whole operation crumbles and all the victims are left out the money the paid in with little to nothing to show for it.

Overall, scams are weak. They have no actual business foundation. They have no goals and they have nothing to work with. They are only as strong as the owner who has to create a great hype to keep them going.

The Ultimate End

As mentioned, eventually every scam will die off. People will start recognizing it as a scam and they will stop investing in it. Sometimes the owner gets tired of it and quits, too.

Eventually, no matter what the scam will not succeed. There is no success to be had when all you are doing is conning people. Scam businesses can not thrive because they are not real. Nobody can make it in business when they are not selling anything. When a business is not selling anything they are not a part of an industry, they can not be competitive and they can not make anyone rich except the person who starts them.

Scams are not good and that is the bottom line. You may be tempted to try to reason how it could work, but unless you are starting the scam, it will not ever pay out.

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Posted by admin - April 17, 2012 at 7:36 pm

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Postal Scam and Competition Scams – Avoid These Types of Fraud

Recently there has been a rise in a clever postal scam and other competition scams that are cheating money from UK citizens. These types of scams have escalated with the rise of the internet, the proliferation of marketing lists and the popularity of social media sites which allow criminals around the world to cheat money from unsuspecting victims with even greater ease. One particular area where scams are finding a niche is in the area of competitions and prizes. It is estimated that these scams are extorting up to 150 million pounds a year from UK residents. This article should give you a fair warning on the types of scams there are out there, what to look for and how you can protect yourself.

1. Timeshare Scams

Almost all of us have received those pesky calls trying to get us to buy in to various timeshare schemes. These scams are generally less serious but are chronic time wasters never the less. Typically a timeshare telemarketer will call your home or work telling you that you have won a holiday or free night’s accommodation. Typically this is true (although you haven’t technically ‘won’ it) however you will need to attend a presentation where timeshare sales execs will try to hard sell you their concept. Often you may have to put down a deposit on your credit card as well. Often travel dates are set and can’t be changed or the flight is scheduled out from an inconvenient airport.

2. Prizes that require processing or administration fees to collect

No genuine prize draw will ever require money to be paid before collection of the prize. These scams come in a whole host of different formats but generally an unsolicited letter will arrive telling you that you have won a vast amount of money. In order for you to receive the prize you will need to pay an admin fee or a postage fee of some kind. Sometimes a telemarketer will call your home to tell you in person, in one particular example victims are called and told that they have won a holiday to Spain, but at the end of the phone call they need to pay £75 for airport taxes upfront with a credit card.

3. Postal Scam using high cost phone lines

The postal scam is one of the most widely spread due to the ease that criminals have in setting it up with overseas phone companies. In this example you receive a notification that you have won a prize or that you have a parcel waiting for you at the post office. There are careful instructions on how to collect the parcel or prize, which involve calling a phone number. This is often a timed call that lasts up to five or six minutes and can cost up to £15 or more. Sometimes an immediate charge for the full amount is added to your phone bill as soon as you hear the recorded voice message on the other end.

4. Text Scams

These are now becoming ever more prevalent as texts are sent to completely random numbers, ‘phishing’ for a response. As soon as you reply to the text the scammers know that they have a real number. The reply text will often cost up to £5 and they can keep these texts going back and forth with you until you stop. This may look something like this text

Text YES now to 54900 if you would like to collect your item. Text YES to 54900 now! stop? text stop to 85115.

As you can see, either way they will hit you with a charge from your reply

5. Internet Scams

This is a whole category within itself however there are a number of classic scams that use competitions as a way of extorting money. You will receive an email from a company posing as a major internet service provider such as msn or hotmail saying that your email has been selected for an annual prize of a large sum of money. This will usually ask you to call a high cost phone number for collection

So what can you do to protect yourself and those around you? Here are a few pointers:

1. If you ever receive an unsolicited call, email or letter explaining you have won a prize and asking you to call a number or pay an upfront fee it is most likely a scam.

2. To be sure, you can check whocallsme.com which keeps a register of scams and companies who abuse privacy policies. If you can’t find anything listed there then you can add your own comments.

3. Check internet forums which are a good to place to find the most common competition scams. Money Saving Expert and the Loquax forum are good places to check.

4. Ask your parents or grandparents if they have received any of these types of messages. They are the most vulnerable group to this type of fraud. It is estimated that the over 60s age group accounts for up to 30% of these scams.

For free competitions to win prizes by playing quizzes, games, and surveys visit Plumprizes.com.

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Posted by admin - April 15, 2012 at 2:11 am

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Network Marketing Scams – Unleashing Facts and Myths

Network Marketing Scams crop up all the time. You need to make yourself aware of their existence. This will help you make sound and informed judgments. You don’t want to be like closed minded people who scam everything and miss opportunities.

You also don’t want to become a victim.

Throughout the history of MLM and network marketing, there have been rumblings about this Industry being a scam. It is actually a sad truth that there are many network marketing scams circulating in the Cyberspace nowadays. If you are not really careful, you could land into problems with those people who are preying on the innocent and the gullible.

Although Network marketing Scams are everywhere, legitimate mlm businesses also do exist. So how do you know which is which?

You need to be aware of a few indicators.

Work-at-Home and Business Opportunity Scams tempt victims with ads stating “no experience necessary,” promise high earnings and claim to have “insider” information which will transform your business.

With so many frustrations in the network marketing industry, there this “New Attraction marketing model”. Every distributor has a secret. A secret which made them sponsor 100 people in less than two months.. Be on the lookout.

And, do you know the most interesting thing? Most of these network marketing scams start by warning you to guard yourself against scams. These ads run like.. “they are all scams”. of course they are playing on your psychology. You must be wise.

The Internet has made it simple for new home based businesses to create a presence without having any real infrastructure or substance. If you have surfed on the internet for any appreciable amount of time, then you most likely have come across some make money from home ads that are definitely eye-catching.

Hundreds of network marketing programs have actually been removed from the internet because they were fraudulent businesses. The internet is a big place, and the amount of work at home, network marketing opportunities that you hear about are extremely numerous, but how can you tell which ones are worth your time?

Research is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself against the numerous network marketing scams.

Read books, magazines, and internet pages that will tell you the no holds barred truth about what you are getting yourself into. Most people jump into internet business with the hope of creating wealth within a short period of time. It doesn’t happen that way.

Many people have been taken advantage of especially in these popular hotel meetings. The so called Gurus bring testimonials and false evidence to make you sign up when your excitement level is still very high. Much as I am a person who doesn’t procrastinate, I have found that you need to think when you are sober before you take any action. This is how many people have been scammed. When the excitement goes away, they start wondering how they could have invested so much for literally nothing. They wonder how they were able to make such decisions.

Be careful giving information when investigating an opportunity. Avoid anyone using hype and pressure. Run away from scammers who want you to sign up there and then without making a sound decision.

Network marketing scams are really not a “direct” scam in itself. Avoiding network marketing scams would require a look of vigilance from you. Why? Because network marketing as a whole is not a scam though it is by its nature, very susceptible to manipulation by unscrupulous individuals and organizations.

The bottom line is do your due diligence and investigate. Take your time before putting any time or money into it. Make sure you are exchanging your money for a service or good. But again, don’t let fear and procrastination stand in your way to achieve financial independence through network marketing if it is your passion. Network marketing has so many advantages if you understand it very well.

And, if you have been scammed before, that should not be the end of the game. Remember, we can’t say that “love does not exist because we were once hurt”

Annette Tush is a seasoned entrepreneur and network marketing consultant who excels at showing network marketers cutting edge strategies for the 21st century. Together with her team, they offer frustrated network marketers creative solutions on how to leverage the internet and build huge organisations without harassing friends and family.

For further information and a much more comprehensive report than she ever could give about avoiding network marketing scams, Visit http://www.breathtaking-network-marketing-secrets.com/mlm-scams.html For Top 6 Litmus Tests Of MLM Scams.

For your free 7day course on how to transform your mlm business: Visit http://www.breathtaking-network-marketing-secrets.com/network-marketing-recruiting.html For your Free Course Book and the &day Bootcamp.

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Posted by admin - April 13, 2012 at 6:19 am

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Money Making Scam Definitions – When Is A Scam Not Really A Scam?

I’ve been in marketing for 20 years, 13 of those years I’ve been doing it on the Internet. As an experienced entrepreneur, I have come across more than my share of business opportunities, schemes and scams.

Everyone should understand the difference between a real scam, a real business, and what some people may label a scam, but many times is not. This is important because many people are afraid to participate in perfectly legitimate business opportunities that could be providing them with extra income for their families in these hard times.

Scam Definitions: Real Scams First, let me explain real scams. On this end of the spectrum are programs that are fraudulent, illegal, immoral, or a blatant rip-off. These can include “con” games where professional rip-off artists have no legitimate business opportunity, but are simply making money by stealing money, time, or resources from you. Or worse, they can continue to cause harm to you after the initial event in other ways too, such as taking your personal information, including credit card information and selling it to others, or even stealing your identity.

Really, the best defense with these is to talk with someone at the business. You can usually get a feeling if they have something to hide after questioning someone for a few minutes. Do some research online to find out more about the type of opportunity it is, if it is a typical scam, or if the company is listed on scam websites.

Real Businesses Called Scams At the other end of the spectrum are thousands of real business opportunities where you can actually make some money. Many of these are similar to the programs you see on the internet today and involve work at home, virtual assistants, affiliate marketing, and selling products, software or e-books.

Even though I would classify these programs as real businesses, it does not mean they are perfect. It is these weaknesses that often result in people labeling some of these businesses as “scams”. Here are some reasons why these real, legitimate businesses are called scams by some people:

1) They are the competition to a program they are trying to sell. I have seen this many times where one person is selling a program trying to make money and labels all others or specific competitors as scams in order to scare people away from his competition.

2) They have really hyped up marketing. This hype and exaggeration in the marketing materials does not make it a Scam by itself. It is simply marketing. Just because there are large red fonts, with yellow highlighting does not necessarily mean it is a scam.

3) They tried the program and failed to make what they expected because of lack of Effort, Knowledge, Time or Money. Many people I have spoken to do not want to put in the required effort, or time or marketing money to get the program kick started.

4) Incorrect expectations. Expectations are critical, if they expected to make $50,000 in the first month and they only make $5,000, then they will call it a scam. ($5,000 per month is fine with me for one program!)

5) The program did not tell them all information up front. This might be the most common theme, because before they signed up the program said anyone could do it, yet after they signed up they realize to be successful you have to actually know how to write articles, or how to do internet marketing. To me, that’s not the fault of the program, you should know what is required before you join.

6) They don’t feel like it is a real business. Many business opportunities simply sell the same program to others. There really does isn’t much substance to the program, other than simply the promise of making money. Each person sells the promise to the next person and so on and so on. These can actually make some money for people.

Summary There are many scams, frauds, and cons that you have to watch out for today. Do your research and talk to people involved with them to make sure and avoid those. However, there are many legitimate businesses opportunities online today hidden behind some of these over-hyped programs that can make extra money for yourself and your family. If you don’t understand these differences, and buy into the negative generalizations about business opportunities, you may miss out on that money.

Tony Sanchez is a 20 year marketing veteran and entrepreneur who has spent tens of millions of dollars on marketing programs while employed by various Fortune 500 and start up companies. His vast experience, combined with his degree from one of the top 5 schools in the world, enables him to teach his methods on how to make money online [http://www.FinancialFreedomToYourDoor.com] to people who want someone they can learn from and trust. For more information visit [http://www.FinancialFreedomToYourDoor.com]

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Posted by admin - April 12, 2012 at 4:09 am

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Paid Survey Scams – What to Avoid When Joining Paid Survey Companies

You will likely never earn a full-time wage when signing on with a paid survey company. However, earning a few bucks here and there can go a long way toward paying for some of the extras in life. In your quest to find a few of these paid survey companies to sign up with, you are likely to run into scams. Do you know how you can spot a scam? Your biggest clue is that the scams will ask you for money.

There are a number of ways that paid survey scams work. First, there is the “one-time registration fee for administration purposes” scam. The companies that pull these types of scams will sound very sincere and post supposed testimonials from their “satisfied customers,” all as a way to entice you and scam you out of some money. These places will say that they must unfortunately charge that one time fee as a way to cover the administrative costs such as maintaining their website and keeping their databases up-to-date with the latest information. Plus, these paid survey scam artists will say that it also a way to separate the riff-raff from the people who are truly serious about earning an income from home.

What these companies don’t tell you is that all the information in their database that you just paid a registration fee to access is information you can find on your own – for free! They justify that they do all the work for you so that you can access the paid survey information from one place. Another part of these scams is something you don’t find out until after you have shelled out the money. More often than not, the biggest scam of all from these jokers is that they have a lot of non-paying survey sites listed in their database. In addition, their information is not always up to date. They could be listing paid survey companies that no longer exist!

Another scam that these companies perpetuate includes selling your personal information to a number of marketing companies. The next thing you know, the number of telemarketing calls to your home increases. You will also likely get more hang-up calls and automated recordings. Your email inbox starts filling up with spam. The junk mail factor increases exponentially at your home too. You will start to receive chain letters with all sorts of scams and business opportunities in which you never requested information. The ramifications of all this junk can last for a long time.

Another red flag that can put you on alert are those paid survey companies that claim you can earn a full-time income just filling out surveys and forms online. Any company claiming that is a scam artist. As mentioned before with these scams, it is practically impossible to earn a full-time income. These surveys are based on demographics, which mean that not everyone will qualify for every available survey. Sure, there are a few surveys that will pay a few hundred dollars to qualified participants, but those are rare. If you even qualify for one of the paid surveys, the money you get is more like one dollar upward to twenty dollars – extra pocket change for the most part.

An additional indicator of paid survey scams is an unprofessional website. You might find numerous misspelled words or poor grammar. Weird character symbols in odd places and broken hyperlinks also hint at the scam factor. Poor website navigation and lack of contact information can be added to the list. The same goes for the lack of security. With secure websites where you input personal information or make payments, you will likely see a little lock icon at the bottom of your screen. If it is missing, click that computer mouse the other direction.

There is some good news on the paid survey front. Quite a few legitimate websites exist where you can access directories filled with information about a variety of survey companies. There are no hidden fees or fine print which translates into a scam-free zone and no charge to access the information!

These legitimate paid survey directories also do not false advertise. They will not claim a full-time income like many of the scams online do these days. Rather, they are realistic and fully disclose that full-time income is very rare. These directories will further tell you (unlike the scam artists) that the more paid survey companies you sign up with, the more likely you will qualify to participate in one.

To recap, paid surveys are a fun way to earn a few extra dollars but it will never make a profound impact on your wallet. Scams are abundant, so keep in mind the factors listed above that can help you spot a fake. Above all, just remember that you should never, ever have to pay for information that you can get for free elsewhere.

*This article was written by Rob Johnson 17/06/2006, Rob has been successfully taking online and offline Paid Surveys in Australia for over 2 years and is also the webmaster of http://www.australianfreepaidsurveys.com, a free frequently updated list of over 200 Paid Survey companies available to Australians.

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Posted by admin - April 9, 2012 at 6:07 pm

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The Berry Tree Scam

As I spend time in Internet forums, various blogs and other social networking sites, I find this recurring theme being played out like a broken record. The Berry Tree is a scam. This complaint is due, for the most part, to a few supposed problems; they charge a membership fee to join, the bonus pools are too small, it takes a too long to make any significant money and too many people fail with the business. In this article I will address these complaints, as well as the accusation that MLM’s in general and The Berry Tree in particular, are scams.

I’m intrigued by how freely the word scam is thrown around these days, aimed like a sniper’s rifle at anything that smacks of MLM, The Berry Tree included. In most cases these accusations are by people who are simply misinformed. Or, they are by people who feel they’ve been burned by MLM and they’re on a mission to bring the entire industry to it’s knees! Not exactly what I would call credible witnesses. I wouldn’t build a court case based on their testimony.

To determine the truth of such accusations, I suppose some definitions are in order. I turned to our good friend, Mr. Webster, and what I found was both interesting and informative. The definition of the word scam is “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation,” or, “an attempt to make money by fraudulent means.” Fraud. Scam. Deception. Those are strong words and should not be spoken lightly! If one is going to hurl those words like a cannon ball at the MLM industry, and more specifically, at The Berry Tree, one had better be sure of ones facts.

Let’s take a closer look at the above accusations in light of these definitions. MLM’s like The Berry Tree, charge a membership fee in exchange for which the distributor receives products, marketing and training tools, mentorship, etc. They in turn, get the rights to profit from the business. That sounds pretty fair to me. It’s not unlike buying into a McDonald’s, or Starbucks Franchise. To own a franchise, one will have to pay Franchise fees. So what’s the difference?

If a membership or start-up fee makes The Berry Tree or any MLM a scam, then by definition, charging franchise fees to open a McDonald’s or Starbucks is also a scam. Now, the start up cost for most MLM’s is under $100, whereas the franchise fees above are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Which of these do you suppose would enable the average person to become a successful business owner and realize great wealth and financial freedom?

If promising someone they will make money with an MLM, only for them to end up in failure, is a scam, then the same is true with traditional business owners who start out with that same dream, only to fail, and go out of business. It happens every day. Most often that failure is attributable to failure on the part of the business owner to do the things necessary to succeed. And, in those cases where it was the fault of the company, insufficient training, poorly designed compensation plan or whatever, it’s still not fraud, and therefore not a scam.

Remember, scam means “by a fraudulent or deceptive act.” Just because the business owner doesn’t make the money they or the company thought they would make, either by their own fault, the company’s fault, or some combination of the two, this is not a scam. It’s not fraud. It’s bad business practice, maybe, a bad business model, maybe, bad luck, maybe, but it’s not fraud.

I’m not implying that there are not real scams out there, there certainly are. There are those phony envelope stuffing schemes, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and perhaps the most successful one of all, that inheritance that suddenly has become yours from some rich philanthropist in Nigeria who has passed away and somehow their attorney or a family member has found you and wants to give you a large sum of money, yada yada yada. Now, pay attention class, those are scams. Remember, “by fraudulent means?”

So why is The Berry Tree being accused of being a scam? Several reasons. They charge a membership fee to join, we’ve already addressed that point. It takes time to make money and the bonus pools are small. The Berry Tree is not intended to be a get rich quick scheme. It is a compensation plan based upon growing and developing a deep and stable downline. The idea is not just to build numbers, but to build quality, distributors capable of reproducing themselves and duplicating the process downward. It takes time to accomplish this. Sure, this will pay less in the beginning, but over time, this process will produce significant long term passive residual income. The small bonus pools do not indicate a problem either, but quite the opposite. The company is entering a phase where more people are qualifying for those bonuses, which of course will deplete them somewhat. However, those same people are sponsoring new members and growing the business, which will in turn increase the bonus pools, over time. This perceived problem is in reality evidence of growth and stability.

To further solidify the legitimacy of this company they have applied for a U.S. Patent for their compensation and profit sharing plans. Would a company that is nothing more than a scam do such a thing? There will be a network television spot on The Berry Tree this fall on CNBC, Eye on America with Diane Sawyer. One would think that a company that intends to defraud people and rip them off would be taking measures to stay out of the limelight, rather than seek to be in it. Another thing this company does that lends credibility is to allow people to “test drive” the business, if you will, for a full month at no charge. Their btstartfree program gives prospective distributors a chance to use all the websites, all the training tools, everything and will even send them product samples to try, all they pay is the shipping cost. My suggestion to anyone wanting to know if this business is legitimate, go to their btstartfree.com site and check them out for yourself.

In summary, a scam is a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation, an attempt to make money by fraudulent means. It implies intent. Before slinging the word scam at this or any other MLM company, it would best to be sure of your facts. Poorly run companies, bad business models, people not making money due to their failure or their company’s, are not scams. They are problems for sure, but they’re not scams. Membership and franchise fees are not scams. Businesses fail, people fail, this is a fact of life. This does not make the company a scam. MLM is a solid business model and The Berry Tree is one of the best this author has ever seen, and I have seen plenty.

Mitch Hayes is an online entrepreneur and home based business mentor. In addition to this, Mr. Hayes has more than 30 years experience as a Critical Care Pediatric Respiratory Therapist. He has been able to apply the considerable teaching and people skills necessary to succeed in that profession to the operation of his successful Home Based Business and the training of his downline distributors.

Mitch is also owner and author of “The Online Home Business Answer,” a Home Business Resource Blog whose mission is to assist online business professionals in marketing their businesses with Excellence and Integrity.

The Online Home Business Answer [http://www.whoismitchhayes.com]

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Posted by admin - April 7, 2012 at 3:01 am

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It’s an Internet Marketing Scam – An Appeal to Fairness in Accusation

We all fear wolves in sheep’s clothing. Many of us have been bitten by the wolves. On the outside, they advertise themselves in attractive or enticing clothes, but on the inside … well, they deceive in order to steal or otherwise do harm. Lottery scams. Windfall scams (Nigeria 419). Work at home and MLM scams. Investment scams. Health cure scams. Real estate scams. Dating service scams. Identity theft. And in particular here, internet and affiliate marketing scams.

It is enough to make one want to head for the hills. To add to the mix, there are otherwise reputable, trusted internet and affiliate marketing companies that may sometimes promise more than they deliver. Or there is the potentially misleading statement which is slippery or ambiguous enough that in hindsight could mean … you know the type. If the price of liberty in the political and legal sphere is eternal vigilance, can we expect an easy road online?

Of course, one must be careful not to be overly dramatic. A good company or supplier beset by some relatively minor scandal may perhaps redeem itself in time. Arguably there is a practical difference between a temporarily wayward organization and an incorrigible one, between a soiled reputation and a scam. At least the distinction seems fair.

I realize some may use the word “scam” more broadly, for example, of any product, service, or company with which they have had a negative experience. Negative in their opinion, at least. But at some point, the word “scam” seems to apply to too much.

Indeed, if scams are as pervasive as they seem, it would stand to reason that the same kind of people that perpetuate scams on, say, the affiliate marketing seller side are pervasive on the buyer side. If it is within human nature to lie and steal, are customers immune from the same kind of temptations, motives, and actions? As a reputable company may act like a scam by delivering less than promised, so a customer may “scam” the otherwise good reputation of a company by slander. If I am not as successful as others using the same internet marketing method, can I say the method is a scam or am I just transferring blame? As the cartoon character Pogo once said: “We have found the enemy, and he is us.”

Thus the mere accusation of “scam” does not make it so even in a dangerous world. A coaching team or product supplier may be unfair or may be unfairly accused. Where the accusation “scam” is in the air, “Let the buyer beware” may point the finger at either the seller or the accuser. In the end, it will again have been proven that honesty is the best policy. So is patience. I realize I need to bear my own advice constantly in mind, but I think the ideal of fairness is one which bears repeating. It may help us be sober in our business decisions, perhaps more so in a negative bear market.

Even as a relatively new member of a team of affiliate marketers, I have observed true and false accusations about scamming. I hope this appeal will contribute something to this difficult issue. Those wishing to comment constructively may go to my blog or for internet and affiliate marketing products that we believe are not scams, visit http://www.bestaffiliatefamily.com

Peter Rubel

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Posted by admin - April 4, 2012 at 2:30 pm

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Internet Work At Home Scams – Little Frogs In A Big Pond

An online advertisement for an e-book on the subject of avoiding Internet work at home scams started me wondering about just how dangerous working at home on the Internet might be. I stumbled across the advertisement by accident. I have to confess I was doing just what I warn everyone else not to do – allowing myself to get sidetracked in the middle of doing some work instead of making a bookmark and returning later!.

An advertisement saying something along the lines of “Secret tips to foil the scammers” caught my eye. Forgetting all about the fate of the nosey feline, I clicked the ad and started reading what turned out to be a long sales letter for a downloadable e-book on the subject of avoiding Internet work at home scams. That was a fatal mistake because there’s no stopping half way through for me: whether I want the product or not, I just have to read to the end.

The discovery that the author was asking just short of $25 for an e-book about Internet scams, made me wonder whether this could be a scam. You will see it all the time on the Internet: people offer to sell you e-books containing “secrets”, but when you download the book you find it is full of tips that should be obvious to anyone with half a brain cell and information that you could pick up online free of charge. Would this turn out to be just another case of a promise to sell secrets that turn out to be no more than a collection of free information much of which is blindingly obvious? I’ll never know unless someone tells me because I have no intention of paying to download this e-book simply to satisfy a passing curiosity. If I can’t recognise most types Internet scam after being online for over two years… Actually, I wouldn’t still be here if I couldn’t recognise them by now.

How to avoid Internet scams is a lesson I learned without the benefit of an e-book telling me how to do it. Most of the lesson was easy and came free as one of the perks of being a compulsive reader: this involved reading tons of free articles. If you type “Internet scams” into a search engine, you will find hours of fascinating reading.

Another part of the lesson came through buying into a few scam programs (you know, the old too good to be true syndrome) and noticing the features to avoid when considering programs in the future. This part wasn’t free (ouch!) but these were early days’ mistakes and, although they seem foolish now, it is easy to understand how they happened. I suppose the experience qualifies me to become the author of my own “how to avoid Internet work at home scams” e-book but does the world need another book on the subject of avoiding work at home scams? How big is the problem of work at home scams?

The figures I found were quite surprising: in 2005, fraud complaints received by the FTC were broken down as follows:

1. Identity Theft – 37%

2. Internet Auctions – 12%

3. Foreign Money Offers – 8%

4. Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales – 8%

5. Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries – 7%

6. Internet Services and Computer Complaints – 5%

7. Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection – 2%

8. Business Opportunities and Work-at-Home plans – 2%

9. Telephone Services – 2%

10.Others – 17%

The figures do not distinguish between Internet work at home scams and offline work at home scams but it’s probably a safe bet that the majority of that 2% of complaints relates to Internet based work at home scams.

Seeing work at home scams put into perspective makes working on the Internet seem a lot less dangerous. Less dangerous that is apart from the fact that working at home on the Internet will inevitably lead us into situations where we could become the prey of identity thieves and they are the real pike in our pool. Identity theft is a lot more frightening than Internet work at home scams. If you are scammed it will probably cost you very little unless you are very unlucky. Sometimes the loss won’t even be financial, it will involve wasted time. If, however, you become the victim of identity theft, you could find yourself penniless and in jail even though you are completely innocent of any crime.

No, I don’t think I would pay for a book on the subject of work at home scams but a book about identity theft? Now that’s a different story.

Copyright 2006 Elaine Currie

Visit Elaine Currie at her Work At Home Income Directory Website to start your Home Business today. http://www.HuntingVenus.com

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Posted by admin - April 3, 2012 at 1:50 pm

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Online Dating Scams- What to Look for and How to Protect Yourself

If you are looking for love online, you may well find it. Every day, more and more people are joining the search, and thousands can now testify to happy, lasting relationships that have formed as a result. Sadly, thousands more have fallen victim to online dating scams.

Here are secrets to spotting online dating scams, as well as specific ways you can protect yourself.

Online dating scams take a variety of forms, but they have one thing in common: money. If you have met a genuine person in your search for online romance, it should be a long time before the subject of money comes up.

But people working for online dating scams will try to raise the issue as soon as possible. They may take a few weeks to try and seduce you, often through email and chat, but they can afford to invest only so much time in any one possible target.

So, if the subject of money comes up relatively quickly with a prospective partner, you should be wary.

The subject of money can take many forms. Some participants in online dating scams will ask you straight out for cash donations (often to help them deal with supposed emergencies) but others will be more subtle.

Often the money you stand to lose will take the form of payments to what seems like a third party, as in telephone online dating scams. Telephone online dating scams often involve the prospective partner asking you to call him or her on a particular number, which is secretly charging you several dollars per minute. These online dating scams can cause you to run up huge phone bills, but because you do not see your bill immediately you may not realize what is going on until you are already in serious trouble.

One of the most common online dating scams is a variation on the ‘Nigerian’ scam, which you may well have encountered before in email. In this online dating scam, the person whom you have an interest in, who often claims to be living in an African country, will tell you that he or she has received some money in the form of money orders that can not be cashed there. The person will then ask you to cash the money orders in your bank and wire the money. The money orders will be forgeries and you may even find yourself charged by your bank for submitting them; however, they can take several weeks to process, so many people fall for these online dating scams and wire the money before they find out what is truly going on.

If the person you have met online lives far away, one of the most tempting ways to spend money is on travel, to enable them to visit you. Many online dating scams take advantage of this with set-ups that enable this prospective partner to pocket the money.

You can avoid these online dating scams by never sending cash and never allowing the other person to determine exactly what travel arrangements or agencies will be used.

While you should not allow online dating scams to put you off when looking for love online, it is important to be aware of them. Remember that any genuine person you meet will know about online dating scams, too. If they care about you, they will respect your need to be careful.

Get free trials for the top rated dating sites including eHarmony coupons and special offers and PerfectMatch coupons and special offers.

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Posted by admin - April 1, 2012 at 12:38 am

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Paid Survey Scams – Five Tips to Avoid Con Artists Online

Without a doubt, the phrase “make money online” has to be to be one of the most commonly misused phrases ever entered on a search engine. Google alone returns a staggering 12.6 million number of sites, along with Yahoo at an astonishing 30.6 million. It is truly one of the most popular phrases ever to be asked for online. So what do all these sites have in common? Well, their goal is make you money…right? Not exactly. Paid survey scams are most certainly rampant across the internet. Whether it be for a free ipod or some “get rich quick” scheme, paid survey scam offers account for at least 50% of them. One in particular, paid survey scam sites, is something to be particularly aware of.

So, what exactly are paid survey scams?

Well, these are the main tools of scam artists looking to waste your time and money. Legitimate survey companies are hired by real organizations to implement market research studies for their products. It is important distinguish between the two, as paid survey scams can be a real drain on your time, your confidence, and even your wallet.

How do you weed out the paid survey scams?

To find legitimate paid survey opportunities in a sea of paid survey scams, do the following:

Avoid Instantly won prize sites. I remember a few years ago going to a department store and getting suckered into one of those timeshare presentations. The hook was “attend this free seminar, and win a free trip to Hawaii…”. Tempting offer right? In actuality, the seminar took 5 hours, and was all a big sales pitch. Even worse, the trip was nothing to brag about, and even required a cash deposit. I felt like such a sucker. This is the same with paid survey scams. The rule is if is too good to be true, than it probably is. Avoid these paid survey scam sites, if possible.

Avoid “free trial” paid survey scams. Have you ever joined something that was impossible to cancel. It all sounds very tempting to get free stuff. You try the site or service, then discover it’s not for you. Then try to cancel, and it’s mission impossible. Take my advice, avoid the frustration and skip these free trial paid survey scams if you can.

Avoid paid survey scam sites with “a lot” of fine print. If you find a site with so much fine print that it covers the page. Then, you are looking at a paid survey scam who is likely cashing in on your confusion. Avoid these paid survey scams.

If you do pay for a survey program, understand what you are getting. Even paid survey programs have their share of con artists as well. You know these sites, which give no support and rarely update their lists. My suggestion is to do your homework. Go online and find as many reviews as you can about paid survey programs, to avoid the paid survey scams. I have personally used Paid Surveys Etc and Max Paid Surveys, which offer excellent support and realistic expectations.

Avoid the “get rich quick” paid survey scam. I’ve seen several paid survey scams which promise to make you thousands overnight, simply filling surveys. Although you can make some decent money filling surveys, no company will realistically give you hundreds or even thousands per survey. The best you can hope for is anywhere between $2 to $20 for online surveys and up to $100 for focus groups. And, this is dependent on if you qualify on the surveys. These paid survey scams will promise instant success, but will deliver absolute frustration.

Making money online is tough, and is definitely no “get rich overnight” picnic. As with any home business, you need to do your research and do your work, in order to find what to pick the good sites from the paid survey scams. Just remember, avoid the paid survey scams, and you will do just fine.

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Posted by admin - March 30, 2012 at 10:09 am

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