The digital age has dawned in, surreptitiously unbeknown to all. It has now become a part of every life. Virtually everything we do or everywhere we go leaves a digital trail. Online experience has become a way of life partaking in every walk of our lives including expenditure and income too.
Digital experience has brought in many conveniences. Among them are opportunities to work from home. There are several opportunities for earning a decent income. Don’t expect these online paid services to replace your day jobs. However, they can complement your day job or come in handy for a downtime.
Online paid surveys are one of the most popular choices for extra income. There are good Santas and there are bad ones. How do you know you are not being taken for a ride? You can read Rebecca Slater about her journey and reviews and you will be safe. Watch out for the telltale signs mentioned below to ensure you don’t get taken for a jolly ride by a fake website.
1. Too good to be true
If it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Don’t get beguiled by websites making lofty claims about ‘get rich stories’ or posting fake testimonials of how people made a ton of money. Some companies may lure you with unbelievable claims regarding rewards, huge cash prizes or even paid vacations. These are phony. This does not happen. Online paid surveys are not lotteries, nor are they get rich schemes. Stay away from websites that make them sound like a miracle in the making.
2. Asking for credit card or bank details
Sites that ask for a down payment to register are frauds. Fraudulent sites often ask for details like your credit card number or bank details. No online survey company is expected to ask for credit card details. Any company requesting credit card information or bank details is out to cheat you. Paypal is the most common method of payments adopted by genuine online paid survey websites.
3. Replica of an existing online survey company
If you notice your website having the exact appearance as any other survey company, chances are it is a hoax. Genuine companies are original and stand apart from the others. A fake online survey site is cheaply emulated. Poor grammar and spelling errors can be commonly spotted. These fake or pseudo online survey websites are typically run by marketing or online lead generation companies. Many times, you may find images of skimpily dressed women on the web portal. Genuine companies don’t use these cheap tactics. They don’t want images like these to desecrate their websites.
4. Prompting to register for multiple online surveys
Legitimate research companies are reticent about their subscriber’s profile information. They generally do not like to share their panellist. Any online company prompting you to register for multiple offers or online surveys is not the real deal. Fake online survey companies take user information and sell their profile details to third parties. They earn a fee for every registration. If you are still unsure, checkout these genuine paid websites and begin your online earnings journey from these.
5. The user is often bombarded with SPAM emails after registering
If you start noticing lots of SPAM emails in your folder after registering, then you have probably been taken for a jolly ride. Your mailbox is flooded with SPAM emails because your profile information has been compromised and leaked to third parties for a price. These emails could be diabolical and carriers of malicious virus or embedded codes that can snoop into your keystrokes and hack passwords and other important details. They may attempt to download malware into your computer system too.
6. Legitimate contact details are missing
Many fake websites have phone numbers that are unreachable. Very little company background is listed. Look out for company details. It is often difficult to ascertain who is running the company through these sites. Websites that don’t carry company details, FAQs, contact information or email address are fake. An easy way of spotting a fake website is by checking if the domain name in the URL is the same as the company name or its logo, example – Michael Kors – https://www.michaelkors.com/. Another way is to run a ‘Whois’ search on the domain to see how long the website has existed. If it is brand-new, chances are it is fake. Scammers create fake and deceiving websites to loot people. Once they are done, they take it down to avoid getting caught. They open a new site to start a new loot campaign again after a few days of laying low.
Concluding Remarks
It is your ultimate responsibility to safeguard your interest. Being educated about scams and hoaxes is the best way to protect yourself from getting conned. Don’t accept surveys from companies that contact you. There is a good chance they are cheats. It is better to be pedantic than be gypped.
