Online Money Tips: Avoid Online Scams

There are many ways to make money online. I have tried almost everything from pay per click to Amazon. Out in the World Wide Web, there are so many people out to scam you, taking advantage of your need for cash. Although there are plenty of websites that are actually out for your money, there are some that truly are legitimate. While browsing the web for fast money making schemes, sometimes you have to sit back and ask yourself a few questions. What are they getting out of this? Does it require me to give credit card information? How will and when will I get paid? Is this business contactable? After you have been through dozens of websites, spotting the scammers begins to get easier.

HOW TO SPOT A SCAM

I have a few tips on how to spot a website that could be potentially scamming you.

• "Survey" If they ask you to take a "survey" with the reward of a shiny new IPod or Blackberry. It consists of you going through numerous pages where you must agree to click at least one of the offers. These offers include free ones as well as ones that will be billing you very soon. You cannot win this situation. They will just continue sending you through page after page.

The reason you have to sign up for offers is because these sites get paid from all of the companies that they are advertising in this "survey". They can't reward you unless they are getting rewarded. But how do they make a profit? Well, let's say that you actually complete the required survey by signing up for these offers; you will end up spending more money than whatever the reward is worth.

• "Enter your email" Another quick tip in scam spotting is if you are directed to a webpage which has a single text box in the center of the page, with big bold colorful text, asking for only your email address. It's a scam! It seems simple, but simplicity is the last thing you are going to get. This page will be followed by either the "survey" I mentioned above, or another form of a clever, misleading scam. So just click the back arrow on your screen as soon as you see that box.

• "Trial offers & Credit cards" Anything asking for your credit card information might be a scam. Now don't get me wrong, there are some sites that do pay you, like Vindale.com, but you end up racking up credit card debt very quickly. Vindale.com asks you to sign up for trial sessions of any particular brand or service. In doing this, you must use your credit card, but the trick is to cancel the product or service before they can actually charge you for it. Then Vindale.com will pay you for it. Why are they doing this? It's all about advertising. This is a very risky thing to do because some trials or offers still charge your credit card regardless, and you have to make a plan to pay it back off with the money you make from Vindale.com. Counter-productive? Yes!

• "Gaming for cash" Something I have come across along my long journey through online money making was the idea of playing games and getting paid. This seems like the greatest job of all. Who wouldn't want to have a little fun that comes with a little cash? Well, I have researched this magical idea and have found a site called Moola.com. This site lets you play against other people in a collection of a few simple games. Here's how it works: You start off with one penny, and then you bet that one penny against someone else's in hopes of doubling your money. If you win the game, you get the change. So if you win again, you keep doubling your money. You can bet for less than that too.

How does Moola.com make their money? While your game is loading and connecting you to a component, you must watch a short commercial. Then answer an easy question afterwards to ensure that you paid attention. We've come back to that motivation driven by advertising. Now the trick is not to lose all of your money. It's a quick trip to Vegas and back. The chances of you having a winning streak are extremely low because like in Vegas, the house always wins.

There is a chance of winning a large sum, but I truly believe it is all controlled. The lowest you can cash out with is ten dollars. I have played on Moola.com for about one year straight and still never managed to even make it to ten bucks. With promises of being able to make millions, Moola.com has proven itself to be a scam undercover, with a one in a billion chance of winning. Don't waste your time.

• "Tips for tips" One day as I was surfing the web and came across what I thought was a genius idea. This site said that I could submit quick little tips, in exchange for payment. So I created an account, and begun to rack my brain as well as my books for tips that I could publish. The agreement was that if they liked your tip, they would publish it and then reward you with three dollars. So I got some really good tips together, and submitted them. Out of 57 tips, they published one. One tip! This had been over a course of year and they paid me three dollars.

By the way, if I were to log in today, it would say that my tips are still "pending". It has been two years. First, they take forever to inform you whether or not your tip has been accepted. Secondly, if by stroke of pure luck your tip has been accepted, it takes even longer to get paid. It is a legit website, but they hardly publish anything. So my advice is to read other tips that have been published, and try to do something similar but a little different. You might have a chance. But don't count on it.

• "More work than pay" If you come across anything that makes you click 5,000 times for five cents, or earn 10,000 points for one dollar, then stay far away. In economics, there is a concept called opportunity cost. This is the idea that by doing one thing, you are giving up doing something else. So whatever you choose is costing you potential benefits of the thing that you are giving up. So how does this apply to online money making? Well, if you ever find yourself sitting for numerous hours doing a ton of work for very little pay, then you should focus your attention and time to something else. Believe me, it is not worth it. With the time spent clicking, opening emails for pennies, and making a few points, you could be working on writing an article for associated content which is definitely worth it.

So these are just a few tips on how to avoid the scam when it comes to making money online. This will save you time, and potentially a lot of money. Always consider how the website is getting the money to pay you. If you are brave enough to venture down the risky and tricky road of internet money making, you should be equipped with some tricks of your own. The final advice I have to offer is if it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is.