Home  How to Identify a Scam  There are many sites out there that offer you great deals and programs, all of which are extremely enticing to people looking to make some quick cash, Unfortunately there are many sites that do not live up to their claims and rather than run a legit business scam unaware people out of their hard earned cash.
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is
 1. GOOGLE
Google is the fastest way to find out if a site is indeed a scam. Google the site name followed by the keyword "scam" and see what comes up have a read of the pages and if it is already widely recognized as a scam one of the pages should claim this. Aim to look for concrete information not just posts from people that haven't tried it and are claiming it's a scam to defeat their competition.
Look for testimonials, proof from unique people not from the same person over a number of websites.
When you come across a page that promotes the site you are researching make sure it is a credible source, be wary of "review" sites as many rank sites by how much they get when they refer.
If you don't find some solid proof good or bad dig deeper.
2. ROBOTEX
Use this site to view the whois information of the site click the link and add the site name on the end of the robotex url in the form "sitename.com" (no quotation marks)
Under the "summary" tab you'll get a short summary of the sites information in this summary you will see the sites reputation. If you see the following message or a similar message you can be sure the site is a scam
"Trustworthiness, vendor reliability, privacy and child safety of this site is very poor"
Click the Whois tab and see if the owners name is listed, many will have put their information on hidden there are few that leave their information available. Google their full name and see what comes up any negative information related to internet marketing could reveal the credibility of the site you are researching.
Click the "shared tab and check the "domains using this as mail server under another name" and "Domains sharing name servers" view the domains listed and see whether they are scams, note that the owner of the site you are listing may not own the listed sites as they may be registered with a larger host. Though scammers tend to use lesser known hosts and if most of sites relate to the initial sites niche it's more likely they have some affiliation with them.
Also check the length of time the site has been online though not all new sites are scams, obviously they are likely to be scams due to scam sites being closed and reopened frequently.
3. Site layout, elements and design
This may not be the best way to identify a site as a scam but it can give you a heads up if you know what to look for. Usually on sales pages are those "Limited Time Offer" notices this is usually a tactic used to grab the newbies thinking that the "offer" won't last and fool them into making an impulse purchase. I can guarantee that in most cases those "limited time offers" will still be around long after the claimed duration, ever wondered why they say for 5 days only yet don't give dates? This is a good strategy though it has been spoiled as it has been saturated by scammers.
Well known Company logo's. Many sites use the big corporations to give their site some credibility by saying things like "Endorsed by Google" complete with the Google logo. Google make their presence known on websites through their programs Adwords etc. not by placing their logos on homepages. Google own YouTube yet where is their logo there?
Many scam sites use the "As seen on TV" image, whenever a site has that just know it's BS.
Theme/template etc. know that a legit business will in most cases be using a custom or commercial(paid) template not a free one.
Scammers will almost always sacrifice quality, as they are looking to make as much money as they can without spending it.
A forum should be present on legit sites or at the very least a testimonials page(that can be added to by members). If a site has a forum accessible by all it's members you can be sure to find out if the members are happy or unhappy with the site, as they will post all their proof and their complaints. If the site has no forum it could mean they are hiding something.(this mainly applies to GPTs and PTCs)
4. Common Sense/Instincts
This is the easiest way to identify a scam, all you need to do here is take a look at their offers and claims. Unreasonable offers are the giveaway here.
Ask yourself these questions
How much effort does this require?
How much can I make in a certain amount of time?
Are they making money?
Is this even possible?
If it requires very little effort you shoudn't be making tons from it. If the claim is you will make tons in a short amount of time with little effort be sure it's a lie. If there is nothing on their site they can make money from be sure you won't make money from them. And lastly is it even possible? you should be able to tell if not read on.
This is how you can tell if a claim is unreasonable for:
A PTC
A "Paid to Click" site, with these you earn money by clicking on an advertiser's link and and staying on their site for a specified period of time. Advertisers pay these sites around $30-$50 per 1000 unique visitors(some may pay slightly more). That would mean the site earns up to $0.05 for each click so they cannot pay you more than that else they would not make a profit. If they offer to pay you more than that then you can be sure when you reach their minimum payout you aren't going to receive a penny.
Quick note you will never make substantial amounts of money from joining a PTCs
A GPT
An offer displayed on a GPT would usually never payout more than $1 unless you are required to make some payment or at least give out your payment details.
While you can make decent amounts of cash from a GPT you will never make substantial amounts by only completing offers yourself.
The main source of income from a GPT & a PTC would be the number of referrals you bring in. Only when you bring in 100s of referrals weekly can you justify making 100s weekly from them.
Ebooks/Guides etc.
If you were to ask me about any Ebook or guide I would instantly tell you it isn't worth the cash. Why? Most guides or ebooks are compiled information from a number of sources, even if the info isn't copied it is likely you can find the information somewhere for free. A lot of the time someone who sells guides about making money makes most of their cash from... selling those very guides.
And copying other peoples tactics will only get you so far you must take ideas and expand on them in your own way to be successful.
Minimum Payoutsand waiting periods
Relate the minimum payout to how much you actually earn and how long it'll take to reach the minimum. A minimum payout of $100 is totally unreasonable for a PTC and anything higher is a definite scam unless it is a business opportunity, for a company or well established property.
How long you have to wait for your money should definitely be looked at if you have to make an initial investment into the site. Anything over 30 days is the sign of a scam as Paypal, Alert pay and similar sites have dispute periods about around 30-45 days. After this period of time getting your money back would be near impossible.
For everything else consider the points mentioned previously and do your research. Avoid Scams!
Remember some legit sites may have some of the features listed above. Common sense rules all make sure you know a little bit about the area the site is involved with and you should easily be able to tell iftheir claims are true.
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