The Internet is full of scams. Millions of people every day fall into the trap of signing up for a program that promises them riches beyond their wildest dreams. The whole idea behind these programs is to get you to pay x amount of dollars for a low quality product that will make you money with little to no work involved. In this blog post I am going to reveal the top 5 ways that you can tell if a product or service is a scam or not.
If you have been scammed in the past by a particular program and would like to report it here and have me do a review on it then I would love to hear about it. There will be a link at the bottom of this page where you can report a scam and I will take a look at it.
The Top 5 ways to tell if a certain product is a scam
1. A video only sales page- Whenever you visit a website and the only thing you see is a video AND THAT’S IT I would exit the page right away. This is the #1 trick that guru’s use to get people to sit through their entire boring sales pitch video.
Click bank products in the make money online niche are where you will find most of these offers. Usually if you try and click out of the page early you are presented with a pop up offering you a discount if you don’t leave the page. I would avoid opportunities like this altogether because I have fallen for many of them in the past.
2. Websites that are Geo targeted towards your city or town- These usually have a picture of someone who they say lives in your city and they are making several thousands of dollars just posting links on Google. I have personally been a victim of this scam and let me tell you I really did believe them at first.
Here is a few things to watch out for if you ever land on a website like this.
- There will be a video or a snippet from your local news station similar to the picture above stating that someone in your town or city is making money from this
- At the bottom they have fake comments from people who have supposedly joined the program and are making good money at it. You can tell these are not real because when you try to leave a comment it won’t let you.
- Be wary if it says positions are filling up fast only 2 positions are left in your area join now!
This is all controlled by the users IP address so wherever you are coming from it will change the page to look like it’s local. If you ever happen to land on a website like this click it out immediately.
3. If it offers a 30 or 60 day guarantee- Any program that is offering any type of money back guarantee is something I would really be careful of. Why you might ask? let me explain
- This is another tactic that scammers use to fool you into thinking that their product is safe.
- There are always stipulations that come with these guarantees (always read the fine print)
- Most of these products are click bank products and they are known for their high refund rates. If the product was as good as they say it is they wouldn’t need a guarantee.
This is not always the case because there are a few legit products out there that offer a money back guarantee. You just have to be careful if they are continuously emphasizing the fact that there is a money back guarantee.
4. Outrageous money claims in a short amount of time- Any product or website that claims if you buy their product you will have success overnight or make thousands of dollars within your first month is a complete scam. It’s impossible to do this because I know from experience. It can takes years sometimes to build up an income online that is comparable to what they say you can make.
Any legitimate company out there will tell you this upfront. Also another thing to look out for is if their sales page has pictures of money, fancy sports cars and a big mansion. You should avoid anything like this and run in the other direction.
5. If they don’t offer some kind of a FREE trial- If a company stands by their product then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t offer a free trial. Would you be more likely to buy a product or service if you got to try it out for free first, or if you had to buy it without knowing anything about it? I think you would agree that it’s better to try it out first before you spend your hard earned money on it.
With all these scams out there who can you trust when getting started online?
It is reported that a new scam is created every few minutes. This has definitely gave the internet a bad name when it comes to finding a legitimate way to make money online. With over 90% of work from home related opportunities being a scam who can you trust?
Thanks to all my years of scouring the internet for legitimate places to learn how to get started making money from the internet, I have found only one place. Wealthy Affiliate has everything that you need to get started in your own online business and they have it set up so that you can get started for FREE.
Check out the review I did on them and get started today building an online business for yourself that you can grow everyday.
I hope this blog post has helped inform you of the many scams that are out there and how you can spot them before you become a victim.
If you have been involved in a scam then I would love to hear your story and how you dealt with the company. Did you get your money back or did you just consider it a loss? Leave your questions and your story below and I will get back to you right away.
If you have been scammed from various different companies and would like to report it and have me do a review on it you can report the scam here.
John
Have to agree with most of those points.
I especially hate it when you have to sit through a long video and you can’t fast forward or take it back to view some part again.
Another tactic I’ve seen is when they offer a 30 day money back guarantee and then drip feed the training to you so that you havn’t finished it before the 30 days is up and you havn’t really had time to evaluate it’s worth.
Scott Newkirk
The video sales page where they make you sit through it and don’t let you fast forward it has got to be the biggest sign of a scam that I have ever seen. Going off my personal experience I have fallen for this tactic many times. Offering a 30 day guarantee is cool, but at the same time I have seen scammers hide behind their guarantees and use them to make you feel safe. I personally thought if they offered a money back guarantee I didn’t have nothing to lose. I found out the hard way that these guarantees aren’t as safe as they want you to believe they are.
I have also seen where they will just offer you a little bit of training as you have said. When your 30 days is up you haven’t had time to decide whether or not the program is worth the money or not. They set it up so that you need to go beyond your 30 days to fully evaluate the product. Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts to this post I really appreciate it man.
Kyle
My pet peeve is the video only sales page. Every time I see a new product launch that takes this approach, it is a “here we go again” moment.
People that cannot give you a look at what their product is and have to use some convoluted and often times INVASIVE marketing pitch that carries little to no valuable content, are what we have come to know as gurus…guru being a term that I use for people that you cannot trust in the industry.
So good call on that one Scott! Video only sales pages that FORCE you to watch it are the surest sign of a scam.
Scott Newkirk
My thoughts exactly Kyle, If you can’t be upfront with me and show me what the product is without forcing me to sit through your boring video then I’m not gonna buy it. I have fell for the video sales page at least a couple times before I got headed in the right direction and found WA. Now I feel that it is my job to help as many people as I can avoid scams and find a legitimate place to learn how to get started online.
Thanks for stopping by Kyle and offering your insight on this I really appreciate it man
Nathaniell
Very good point about the video thing. Something to add to that is if they don’t let you skip through the video (fast forward), to start running. I’ve never seen someone with a video like that have a good product.
I disagree that a money back guarantee is a sign of a scam, but I get your point. I know a few legit places that offer this, but you are right that the best places are the ones that offer a free trial but no money back guarantee. Lot’s of scam products just want your credit card information so they can call you, send you emails, and hope you forget to ask for the refund before the end of the trial.
Scott Newkirk
I just hate it when you go to a website and they make you watch this long boring video usually about how they went from living in the gutters to becoming rich from creating the product they are trying to get you to buy. Like you said if you can’t skip through it then you better get out of there fast. I know there are probably some great products out there that offer a money back guarantee but you just have to be careful if they keep boasting about the fact that there is a guarantee but they never reveal what the product is.
Chances are you are going to need that guarantee if you buy the product thinking there is no risk involved. Offering a free trial is definitely the way to go but then too you have to watch because as you said people just want your credit card information. I really appreciate you stopping by and offering your thoughts on this.