Posts Tagged ‘Scams’

eBay Scams to be wary of

As great an opportunity as eBay is, there are also some eBay scams to watch out for if you’re trying to make a business out of it:

Bid Rigging or Shielding – in this scam, either two bidders work together, or one bidder using two accounts, rigs the outcome of an auction. One bids low on your item then soon after the other bids unrealistically high say two or three times the value of the item. The high bid prevents anyone else from making a competitive bid but of course that bidder backs out before payment time. You’re now left with just the low bid to sell to! This is one of the reasons why using a reserve is a good idea. Read more…

Survey Scams

While there are lots of legitimate surveys carried out by genuine companies and marketing agencies there are unfortunately also plenty of duds. One of the recurring scams we see time and time again involves the promise of large amounts of money for completing online surveys. Some of these ads will claim you can make hundreds of dollars per day doing online surveys for a couple of hours form filling.

I came across surveypolice.com which attempts to list the genuine sites and weed out the
survey scams and looks to be doing it very well. The site is full of helpful info and articles. There is a list of ranked survey sites and a complaints board where you can see which companies have been troublesome to deal with. There are tips on finding good surveys and how to spot the scams. Some of the usual alarm triggers are evident; lack of contact and address info, lack of a privacy policy and the promise of easy money.

The site seems genuine, certainly someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to pack it full of info and in the articles section you’ll see a FAQ section which gives you a more realistic view on what to expect from surveys, in short you get to give your opinion in return for rewards which may range from cash to prize draw entries or merchandise. They say quite clearly you are unlikely to get rich but you can have some fun and gain reasonable reward for a few minutes effort!

If you’d like to gain a few dollars here and there by all means try the surveys listed and let me know of any problems by leaving a comment below.

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More Work at Home Scams

So many ways to scam the unsuspecting! Following the previous post on scams, here are a few more to watch out for.

Data Entry
While no doubt there are some legitimate data entry type jobs, you’ll find there are way too many scams in this area. Typically you’ll see an advert talking about how you can make loads of money entering small ads online. What you’re likely to get is a guide telling you the basics of how google adwords works so you can start entering ads if you can find something profitable to advertise.

Payment Forwarding
One scam to be particularly aware of is the payment forwarding scam. In this one, the scam artist will promise high wages or commissions for handling payments from your bank account or other accounts such as Western Union to other parties. Get tempted by this one and you can find yourself handling hundreds of thousands of dollars of suspect money. Well done, you are now an accessory to a crime, usually a financial fraud!

Identity Fraud
The ‘Identity Check’ fraud is now fairly common, this is where someone you have been in touch with over a great looking opportunity now requires lots of personal information to verify your identity. Run away! That sort of info is gold to an identity scammer. You can find yourself with bad credit records and unable to get bank loans in the future if your identity is used fraudulently. As anyone who has found themselves in this position can tell you, it is a nightmare to try to set the records straight.

Multi Level Marketing
These can get dangerously close to pyramid schemes. There are lots of well known and totally respectable MLM type opportunities out there with happy agents and happy customers in everything from cosmetics to underwear, however there are also lots of scams. If you find all you’re really doing is recruiting more people to do as you do you’re probably sailing dangerously!

There are more… so many more, please remember “if it seems too good to be true, it is”

Home Business Scams

Work at home scams have been around since long before the internet however the increasing reach of the net has given the scam artists a new method of getting their schemes out to more and more victims. We’ve all seen ads and emails promising us wonderful lifestyles and great home businesses for just a small investment of our money and time and many of us will have been duped in some way or other ourselves. There are also many real opportunities and genuine ways of working at home, the difficulty is in sorting through the scams to reach the gems.

Firstly, your gut instinct can be a pretty reliable indicator, you know that feeling you get “it sounds too good to be true”? – Well yes that instinct is usually correct! Classic home business scams also show signs such as:

Claims of Insider or ‘Secret’ Information

Promises of Huge Profit for Little Effort or Investment

Unrealistic Claims of Simplicity “so easy a child could do it”)

No Previous Experience or Knowledge Required

Testimonials from people you can’t possibly identify or contact (J.Smith, London)

They can only tell you more about the great opportunity after you sign up

A look at the small business magazines shows some real old chestnuts are still going strong. Some of these scams have been around since the printing press. Be especially wary of scams like these ones: Read more…