Just some typical scams to be on the lookout for.

Most of these Scams have been around for years, and they are still going strong. Now you may ask why do these Scams still exist, the simple answer being, they work, and the scammers actually make money, otherwise they would stop promoting it.

This is just a short list of some of the rubbish out there.

1. Google Money Scams Using the popularity of the Google name, scammers promise to make you rich by teaching you how to place ads on Google. The fee, on the surface, seems small, but the fine print tells another story, and buyers find their credit cards being billed about $75 monthly for a "membership" plan.


2. Auction Listing/Rebate Processing Scams The scammers imply that you'll be doing basic data entry work, and making good money at it. But once they get your $197 (the typical buy-in), they eventually reveal that you'll actually be doing affiliate sales. But with no sales, you get no income.

3. The "Instant" Online Business ("Biz-in-a-Box") So many of these business-growth "programs" are spewing spam, it's hard to know where to begin. They often carry names like "wealth builder," "cash secret," etc., and all promise high income quickly. Typically, the bait is big money for basic work-- typing, data entry, placing ads with Google. But the truth is, you'll be selling everything from diets and vitamins to dating services, website hosting services, and even other work-at-home scams. Worse yet, the "kit" or "system" is often marketed as "free," but the victim's credit card is immediately hit with ongoing monthly "consulting" or "web hosting" fees of $39.99, $59.90, etc.

4. Check Cashing/Forwarding Often originating in Senegal, Romania, or Nigeria, this scam lures victims with promises of an easy commission (typically 15 percent) on the deposit of an apparently authentic cashiers check--which may be a real check, stolen from a bank. The victim deposits the check and wires 85 percent to the scammers. A week or two later, when the bank declares the check fraudulent, the victim is stuck with the loss.

5. Data Entry Scammers know that basic home-based administrative work is in high demand, and very scarce. (A few companies offer legitimate data entry work, but their waiting lists can be literally years long.) If you get an e-mail telling you how desperate a company is for qualified data entry specialists, it's a scam Period.

6. Get Rich Taking Surveys Yes, you can make a little money , sporadically taking surveys (usually $1-$5, more if it's a focus group). But contrary to the scammers schemes, you should never have to pay a fee to take one.

7. Package Forwarding Postal forwarding losses are on the way to the $1 billion mark. In this scam, you agree to receive and repack electronics (MP3 players, video recorders, DVD players, etc.), fill out customs forms, and send the goods overseas. In exchange, the "hiring company" says they will reimburse you for shipping expenses and pay you a fee. The truth? You're a "fence," giving a cover of legitimacy to goods bought with stolen credit cards. Not only will you not get paid, you may be arrested for shipping stolen goods and the misleading information you put on the customs forms.

8. Mystery Shopping Before, this scam usually involved selling you an outdated list of companies that hire mystery shoppers. Now, scammers lure victims with a nice cashiers check to be used for the shopping. You deposit the apparently-legit check, buy whatever you want up to a certain limit, then wire the balance of the funds back to the scammers via MoneyGram or Western Union. Later, the bank discovers the check is bogus, and the victim is on the hook for the funds--and may be answering Police questions about bank fraud.

9. Order Processor Jobs (aka E-mail Processing) In this e-version of the classic envelope-stuffing scam (see No. 10), you're asked to pay a fee to learn how to make money processing orders from ads that you'll place on the internet. But your chance to "process orders" comes when you turn into a scammer yourself, and start sending the same scam to your own victims.

10. Envelope Stuffing Typically, you're asked to send money to learn how to make money stuffing envelopes. Then, you either receive nothing, or a letter instructing you to place the same ad that you yourself replied to, so you can scam others the same way you were scammed. (Remember: companies have machines to stuff envelopes.) The last time this was actually viable was in the 80's, we are now in the 21'st century.

There is so many others, feel free to leave your comments, and list some of the ones you know of.

PART 2.

11."Ponzi" schemes promise high financial returns or dividends not available through traditional investments. Instead of investing the funds of victims, however, the con artist pays "dividends" to initial investors using the funds of subsequent investors. The scheme generally falls apart when the operator flees with all of the proceeds or when a sufficient number of new investors cannot be found to allow the continued payment of "dividends."

This type of fraud is named after its creator Charles Ponzi of Boston, Massachusetts. In the early 1900s, Ponzi launched a scheme that guaranteed investors a 50 percent return on their investment in postal coupons. Although he was able to pay his initial backers, the scheme dissolved when he was unable to pay later investors.

Here is a Link to a Post by Louise Venison regarding Ponzi Schemes.

CLICK HERE

Tips for Avoiding Ponzi Schemes:
Be careful of any investment opportunity that makes exaggerated earnings claims.
Exercise due diligence in selecting investments and the people with whom you invest in other words, do your homework.
Consult an unbiased third party like an unconnected broker or licensed financial advisor before investing.

12. "Pyramid Schemes." As in Ponzi schemes, the money collected from newer victims of the fraud is paid to earlier victims to provide a veneer of legitimacy. In pyramid schemes, however, the victims themselves are induced to recruit further victims through the payment of recruitment commissions.

More specifically, pyramid schemes also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.

Pyramid Schemes are still very successful, mainly because new websites are calling it new names like "Cyclers", "Matrix" and "Money Gifting" etc. The concept still boils down to a Pyramid Scheme, once people stop joining in under you the program falls flat and you are out of pocket.

Here is a link to a Post by Andy Zeus Anderson expanding on this topic.

CLICK HERE

Tips for Avoiding Pyramid Schemes:
Be wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.

I will add some more in the followung days, and you will notice the list is going to be long. Their is scamming going on in almost every type of business you can think of, and it certainly becomes harder to spot them.

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Comments

Sam Djimun   XO Blogging Dawie, you always write a good article. Yeah, Scammer is everywhere. It's hard to kick them out from this arena. I've got almost all of your top ten every time. But Dawie, I did not see in your blog how to avoid those ugly scammer, hope I will get it in your next blog posting Oct 15th 2010 20:26

Paula van Dun   Retired I would like to ad that people always read TOS. And a 100% satisfy guarantee loge means nothing wen there is a earnings disclaimer in the fine print. Cyclers: can take ages before it is your turn, by that time the whole system has collapsed. Pyramid systems: like a pile of eggs in 99% of the cases. Take out a few and it colapses. By the way, good articles. People would save themselves for so much frustration and failure if they would read educational articles like this one! Oct 15th 2010 20:37

Dawie Bezuidenhout   Systems Engineer I.T. @Sam, my short answer will be to ignore any programs related to the ones i posted above. Whenever they want you to pay them money before you can start earning, it is a red flag. People jump onto these programs because of the promise of easy money, that does not exist, nothing that is legal and ethical anyway. Oct 15th 2010 20:40

Paula van Dun   Retired Sam if I have doubts I google the program google+scam. Or i try to find owner with whois and than google. When the program is new and there is nothing there I ask the opinion of some good internet friends i trust Oct 15th 2010 20:44

Meghan    OMG It drive me NUTS when I see that business opportunity that claims to put you on the first page of Google in 5 minutes. That isn't possible. Even pay-per-click takes longer than 5 mins and you better have enough funds to pay for page 1. There is no easy trick to mastering Google. The formula for Google placement takes into consideration multiple factors of which they constantly change the "weight" of. Oct 15th 2010 20:49

Dawie Bezuidenhout   Systems Engineer I.T. @Paula, In South Africa, money gifting, cyclers, matrix Etc. programs are all illegal and is regarded as Pyramid Schemes, which it is at the end of the day. Marketers sugarcoat this fact by giving it a fancy name. Oct 15th 2010 20:50

Sam Djimun   XO Blogging Thanks, good advice, I'll try it Oct 15th 2010 20:50

Paula van Dun   Retired @Davie Yes, when something sounds to good to be true, it usually is. Oct 15th 2010 20:53

Anginetta W.   International Marketing Consultant Dawie, thanks for sharing. I always read term & conditions and the policies & proceedures. Most of the time it tell you exactly whats to expect and what you need to do and or how many sales/referrals you need to profit. If a website doesn't give you complete info/description of this it's may not be good to join. **be careful with these new so called profit sharing sites** Oct 15th 2010 20:58

Dawie Bezuidenhout   Systems Engineer I.T. @Meghan, good one, i completely forgot that one, people masquerading as SEO experts with the promise of No1 Google ranking in minutes. Like you said, it takes hard work and constant tweaking of keywords etc. Another example. showing that people are always looking for the easy way out, not willing to put any effort towards doing something right. These Scammers are laughing, while sipping a sundowner on his new yacht. Oct 15th 2010 20:58

Meghan    I think the keywords are "Make $____________ doing NOTHING!" Money takes work no matter what. Oct 15th 2010 21:01

Dawie Bezuidenhout   Systems Engineer I.T. @Ms Anng, the TOS is important, but this can also be false statements, just like the false payment proofs and testimonials. You raise a good point about the profit sharing sites, i haven't really investigated one, but i see quite alot of them are being advertised here at APSense. Oct 15th 2010 21:05

Nick Grimshawe   Personal Development Coach Thanks great info to keep one alert and aware. Oct 15th 2010 22:15

Reggie W.   Internet Marketer excellent post and what every internet marketer should be aware of. There are so many flashy websites promising the moon and give you nothing. Another red flag for me is the word SECRET anywhere in the body There are no secrets however getting real information can make it seem that way. I've been plodding along for many a year. My intentions are never to scam anyone to make money but try to share info that can be beneficial. Peace 0ut and keep the post coming. as I become aware of some I will add to your post best wishes Oct 15th 2010 22:44

Rammesh Perumal   Web Business & Development Consultant Nce article Dawie, as long as so call "gurus" create hungry market & people believe in quick & easy buck the scammer's account will be always prosper :). You must have spend some time on putting all the info together, thank you for sharing. I will put this link to my facebook fan page as my appreciation for your hard work to scam awareness. Have a great weekend guys! Oct 15th 2010 22:51

Faye Owens   Internet Marketing Dawie, thanks for this, there are a lot of scam out there. It helps that someone else also see them and helps others to avoid them. Oct 15th 2010 22:54

Dawie Bezuidenhout   Systems Engineer I.T. Thanks for all the positive feedback people. @Ramesh, thanks, maybe it will help some people to be more aware of the more common scams out there. Oct 15th 2010 22:56

Bev Hofmann   Advertising Pays Thanks for the great posts Dawie. Your blog is definitely one that I will be returning to on a regular basis. Your honesty is much appreciated. I can tell by the comments of others that you have earned the respect of the ApSense Community. Oct 15th 2010 22:58

Eric Tan   Internet Marketer, Web Designer Everyone should see this, especially newbies... Thanks for the great info! Oct 16th 2010 00:18

Paul Johnson   New World Economy The voice of experience, now that's what we need more of. thank you for posting this. The items you listed, well, so true, so true. Oct 16th 2010 08:59

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