Tips on Naviating the Spam on MTurk

As indicated in a plethora of articles located both on Associated Content and elsewhere, one can find pluses and minuses in deciding if Amazon's MTurk program is a workable option for you or not. I have found a few requesters where I can do enough work to cover the gaps for those times when as the old country song goes "there's too much month and not enough money." So, for me, I am able to find some value in turking.

However, in recent months I have noticed a significant rise in spammers who are posting items that are in clear violation of MTurk's policies. In fact, a quick search of a BlackHatWorld.com will show that some of these folks have gotten brazen enough that they post suggestions on how one can make money by scamming MTurk and other sites.

For those who wish to use MTurk, here are a few suggestions for how to Turk and avoid the BlackHats.

1. Learn from the turking community Who are the legit requesters
Before accepting a hit, check out TurkerNation (http://turkers.proboards.com/index.cgi) to see if this particular requester has presented problems for other turkers. Another valuable site is Turkopticon (http://turkopticon.differenceengines.com/), which enables turkers to give feedback and rank requesters.

2. Use add-ons to create a site so you can find actual work
Install the Block (Hide) Requester Script from Firefox (http://turkers.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=kscripts&action=display&thread=4633). While this tool has a few kinks and can only be used with a Firefox browser, I find it an invaluable tool to block those requesters that I know to be scammers, as well as legit requesters whose work just doesn't interest me.

3. Do not do any hits that are in violation of Amazon MTurk's Participation Agreement (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/conditionsofuse)
This includes giving out any personal information including social security number, address, telephone number, email address (even if you use a throwaway email), as well as posting material to other sites like Craigslist. In addition you are supposed to be able to do this work without having to join another program like Facebook, Amazon, Digg, and Twitter. So, it might appear to be innocuous but asking someone to Digg a bookmark, comment on a YouTube video or post a particular twitter is a violation of MTurk's participation agreement. (Yes, these hits could easily be removed if Amazon chose to put in some simple safeguards but the reality is that by doing these hits, the worker is in violation of the participation agreement.)

3. Know the warming signs of a fake hit
The following code phrases are signs that you're dealing with a scam hit: test my landing page (website), fast money, easy, insurance quote, set up an email account (usually Gmail or Yahoo), "free gift card," test our captchas, and create a new account on (insert name of service). If the phrase sounds similar to the spam you get in your email box, then odds are it's spam here as well. The surveys are a bit trickier as there are legit surveys on this site. As a rule of thumb, a real survey either has the survey Qs in the body of the hit or when you click on the link it takes you to a qualified survey site. If you click on yes and you're taken to a site that asks for any personal information, just return the hit and move on.

4. If It's Too Good To Be True, It is.
Some scammers offer a very high amount (by MTurk's standards) of say $1.00 to $15.00 to "test their site." This higher rate may cause some to forget the aforementioned guidelines and try to catch this brass ring. But these sites are but a mirage. When you complete the hit, and hit submit, you'll be taken to a fake page that says, "your request has not been completed successfully." There has been an increase in the use of fake pages that enable the spammer to get the data without having to pay for the hit.

As noted, these scams appear to be on the rise despite efforts by Turkers to keep reporting the hits to Amazon. Hence, Don't assume that because the hit is posted that it adheres to MTurk's Participation Agreement. When in doubt, return the hit and then check to see if the requester gets a thumbs up or thumbs down from other turkers.