Easy Ways to Spot Scams Online

I have a lot of friends, and family always falling for scams, or asking me how to avoid or spot scams online. This is a very common issue when trying to deal with making money online or saving money online, be it surveys, or freebies. There are some very easy ways to spot and avoid scams online. You can use this article as a check list to see if something you belong to is indeed a scam.

If you are considering ordering anything from an email you received, how did the company or person maintain your email address to sell you whatever it is you wish to purchase? If it's not a company such as Mypoints, or SendEarnings or something else you signed up for, chances are it's a scam.

At the bottom of the email you received, is their a removal link or is it a picture of a removal link? A picture of a removal link is a 100% sign it's a scam email. If there is a unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email and the address begins with http://www.aweber.com it's a scam. For some reason every company I have ever ran into, be it a so called legitimate freebie site running a newsletter and it's got a aweber webaddress at the bottom it's got scam links included in the newsletter. Anything from Affiliate links that cause you to sign up for spam, or something you have to complete loads of offers just to get a simple coupon. Run and unsubscribe ASAP when you see that link located at the bottom. The mailing is a waste of your precious time.

If you are in question about a website you are signing up for something for, you can always check it out on http://www.siteadvisor.com but be careful because McAfee SiteAdvisor is not ALWAYS correct, it's merely a starting point.

If the website you are considering signing up for something for or from has Google ads running on it, this is usually never a good sign. The reason I say this is, the site must not be making enough money or is a scam site indexing your personal information and making money with Google ads as an extra bonus income.

It's also a good idea to check out google.com for the site in question. If anything is bad listed about their freebie, or company it should come up when you search for the web address and related topics.

If the email you got has extra codes in the subject line, it's from a spammer, do not order anything, simply throw it away.

If the website in the email address redirects (goes to one address and then another of different domains), it's a scam or it's an affiliate link being since to you. Affiliate links earn the webmaster money for you signing up.