Online Income Opportunities To Avoid
67Online Income Scams
While there are online business opportunities for stay-at-home moms, dads, students or anyone who wants to make money online, there are also lots of ways for you to lose money online.
This blog is dedicated to helping you avoid a few of the online income scams out there just waiting to separate you from your money.
My Best Advice:
The first and most important thing to learn is to never send money to any potential online "employer". Don't pay for "training fees", "start up packages", "training materials", "training manuals", or a "list" of employers hiring writers, survey takers, or any other employer "lists".
Just think about putting in an application to go to work at your local grocery store. Did they ask you to pay for training? Did they ask you to purchase a training manual?
“Work-at-home” Listings To Avoid
Online Business Training - Have you seen these sales pitches? “Start your own online business and get rich”, "Easy Online Business - Earn Six Figures", or "Make $500 A Day By Next Week"
The only people who will make any money are the people selling you these "money making" business packages. Chances are good that the only thing you will get for your hard earned cash is some sort of guide or eBook that walks you through the steps of setting up your own online business. If you follow these guides or eBooks, you will be clicking on links that lead to more things you need to purchase in order to make your new business "profitable". These links are usually attached to affiliate products, and if you make a purchase through any of those links, you just made more money for the person that sold you the training guide or eBook.
All the information you need to help you start an online business is free. All you have to do is find it through search engines, blogs, and forums.
Multi-Level-Marketing, or MLM "Jobs"
I see listings for MLM programs placed in the "Jobs" section of online, as well as print classifieds every day. Online classified websites like Craigslist are trying to put a stop to this practice, but they can't catch them all. Some recruiters are really slick when it comes to writing "Job" ads.
Multi-Level-Marketing is not a "job". It is a pyramid scheme that involves recruiting others to do the same thing you are trying to do. The MLM model appeals to people by showing them an unrealistic view of how big their "down-line" can grow.
Here is the scheme: First, you must agree to purchase a minimum amount of the company's product each month (called an auto-ship). Next, you have to recruit others who will agree to the auto-ship also.
Here comes the big numbers: You recruit or sponsor 5 people, each of your recruits get 5 people, each of their recruits get 5 people, and so on and so on. This usually goes on for at least 5 or 6 levels, and you make a percentage of every monthly auto-ship purchased by your down-line members.
Did you do the math? In this example let's assume the percentage equals 10% of the selling price of each monthly auto-ship product package. Let's also assume 10% equals $3.00.
Level 1 = 5 X $3.00 = $15.00
Level 2 = 25 X $3.00 = $75.00
Level 3 = 125 X $3.00 = $375.00
Level 4 = 625 X $3.00 = $1875.00
Level 5 = 3125 X $3.00 = $9375.00
Level 6 = 15625 X $3.00 = $46875.00
Now add the income from all 6 levels and you get $58590.00 per month in "residual income"!
The MLM company wants you to believe that all you have to do is recruit 5 people (some require less, some more) and your down-line will just continue to grow like the model above. This pyramid model will only work in a perfect world. There are statistics available that say 98% of MLMers fail. I believe that percentage is low. I would say it is more like a 99.5% failure rate.
Make Money Posting Ads
Have you run into this sales pitch: “Earn up to $200 a day posting ads just like this one”? I wish this scam would end. I see it all the time, and it makes me sad that people still fall for it.
Here is what you get: You pay for a "Training Package" that has pre-written ads that you just "copy and paste" on classified ads sites every day. They even tell you which major cities to target so you get the most traffic. Your "job" is to copy a model website and host it on a free web hosting site, or paid hosting if you choose. This website is the training package that you just bought and you are now going to market and sell this same "Training Package" to others. There is absolutely no value in this system. It's crazy. I see this advertised everywhere at a price of $25.00. Please don't buy it.
Assembly Jobs
Assembly Jobs
Are companies still peddling this scam? Wow! I remember when my mom tried this scheme way back in 1973 or 1974. Almost every other TV commercial advertised this "work at home assembling crafts" scam. It made my mom think that all she had to do was pay for the kit, assemble it, send back the completed product, and get paid money and get another kit to assemble again. Nope! That's not how it worked. When she received her kit, it came with advice on how to sell the completed product at fairs, fund raisers, and flea markets for a profit. It's still the same today. The only difference is that the companies are using the Internet to do their marketing.
Data Entry Jobs
This is a pretty slick marketing scheme. Companies lure you in with claims that you will earn thousands of dollars if you purchase, and follow, their training course. What they "train" you to do is place ads for their affiliate programs. They "give" you the banners, links, splash pages, etc to use in your marketing efforts. The only time you make any money is if one of your ads leads to a sale for the company.
Claims Processor and Rebate Processor Jobs
To get "hired" as a Claims or Rebate Processor, you must purchase the company's equipment, software, and training material. Some will also want you to pay for "training" classes on how to use their equipment and software.
Earn Money Stuffing Envelopes
Once again, scammers have taken something old, and recycled it into todays online marketing.
Question: Why do big companies need people to stuff envelopes for them?
Answer: They don't.
Companies have automated equipment that stuffs, sorts, and prints addresses and postage at blinding speed. They don't need you to do this tedious chore for them.
When you purchase this package, you get a "list" of companies "hiring" envelope stuffers. Of course you discover much too late that this list is outdated and useless, or it leads to more scam companies.
A List Of Companies Hiring Online Workers
My favorite "work at home" scam is the websites that sell a "list" of companies that are currently hiring online workers. Their claims include "Make $25 to $75 an hour working online", "Top companies are hiring online workers." etc, etc.
Information for legitimate businesses that hire online workers is free. All you have to do is seek them out. I will soon have another Hub with a list of legitimate companies that you can go to and apply for work.
If it sounds too good to be true … it usually is
Do not fall victim to any job “opportunity” that claims you will make hundreds, or thousands of dollars a day “working just a few hours a week”. It is almost a 100% certainty that it is a scam designed to separate you from your money.
Don’t give up hope. The “work at home” dream is not hopeless. There really are legitimate online companies that will pay you for your efforts and talents. But, they require work, and you’re probably not going to get rich.
Thank you for reading my Hub and have a wonderful day.
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Great hub with a lot of valuable information.
Gov't jobs: Another scam
Another twist to stuffing envelopes is that you mail the information, and if some other fool pays money, that is when you get paid, if you get paid.
There is another for making jewelry for a what appears to be a religious site. Another scam. Like other assemble at home scams, this one you buy the materials needed from them to make their jewelry for them to sell Then the instructions are poor. Material wasted. They do not approve of your work. No pay to you again. But they made money off of every fool who bought the supplies.
Thanks for the feedback. LindaSmith1, I'll have to research those scams and add them to a future "online scam" hub. I'm sure there are many more that I am not aware of. Thanks again and have a wonderful day.
The "income opportunities" are often marketed in a way to induce you to pay them money. Fraud rely in intentional misrepresentation, and/or changing the rules of the game on you mid-way.
Auto-ship that was NOT resold violates FTC guidelines on "ultimate consumer", as 70% of products must be sold to people NOT in the company. This is one reason I consider MLM to be right on the VERGE of illegal and not recommended.
Most people don't research online, nor do they understand what is a pyramid scheme and what is not. In other words, greed blinds them.
It doesn't take money to make money. Money can be earned through honest efforts and the right opportunity. Paying money to earn money is bogus.
There are a lot of scams out there but there are also a lot of real jobs. People just need to be careful and analyze the situation. Real jobs don't cost money. They make it.
I got so tired of reading other peoples crap about how to make money online, I just gave up and put old fashioned business and marketing skills to work and created my own online stores. The key is to sell real products, yes I count creative writing as a product, to real people, for a real profit.
Your Hub has excellent information presented in a well written format. Hopefully it won't take you as long as it took me to find your niche and earn online.
By the way, I have retired from driving a truck twice now, I just keep going back to it because once it gets in your blood, it's hard to stop. I don't go as much as I used to, I'm out only 4 days and 1 night a week now. I drive because I love it, the same reason I have my online stores.
Good Luck and keep up the good work!
Deborah-Diane Level 5 Commenter 6 months ago
This is an important article that really needed to be written. In these difficult economic times, so many people are struggling to earn extra money, and instead they are falling victim to these scams. Thanks for providing the public with this info. Keep up the good work!