Avoid the Scams: Red Flags

The following was guest blogged by Steve from I’ve Tried That.

This is part two in a three part series about making money online and avoiding the scams that are out there. Read part one here.

Here is a list of common themes you’ll see on illegitimate websites. If you come across any of these on a presell page, you better hold off on completing any transactions. All of these can be considered red-flags that you’re about to waste money.

“Anyone can do it!”

Ah, the most popular slogan with no real backing. If anyone can do it, then why isn’t everybody already doing it? Perhaps the ‘it’ they are referring to in the sentence is the ability to fill out a form with proper credit card information in order to give money away. If that’s the case, then yes, a lot of people can get scammed. If anyone could make thousands of dollars online, poverty and unemployment would cease to exist. Everyone would be sitting inside making money online. The truth is that a lot of people will be suckered into believing they can make money online. That’s a pretty important difference.

High-Pressure Sales Tactics

The most common tactic here is literally a clock that is ticking away. If you don’t make a purchase before that clock hits zero, then you’ll severely lose out on a great deal. Can’t you see the previous sale prices with strike marks through them right next to the current sale price? It’s not like HTML is permanent and you can’t edit it after publishing. If it isn’t a clock then it is probably tomorrow’s date. Refresh the page and the clock will start ticking all over again. Go back tomorrow and you’ll see it’s always the next day that the sale ends. No matter what tactic it is, they are trying to force you to make a decision without properly thinking it over. Don’t give in.

Shady Images

There are two major image themes that pop up consistently with these online scams. First, is wealthy stock photography: fancy cars, million-dollar homes, yachts, people holding fistfuls of cash, and beautiful tropical resorts. These pictures lead you to believe that you can live this luxurious life after buying into this program. The second set of images usually portrays some sort of Clickbank, PayPal, or bank account that has thousands upon thousands of dollars currently deposited into it. Anyone with even a beginner’s knowledge of Photoshop (or Microsoft Paint for that matter) can doctor a screen shot in seconds. Suddenly, a mediocre bank account has turned into Bill Gate’s personal account. The only difference that will happen in your bank account will be a loss of money, not a gain.

Million Dollar Formulas

This is what should set the red flags off, but usually it encourages a buyer into completing a sale. The seller usually claims to have stumbled upon the secret to making money online. Think about this logically for a minute. If the seller is thousands of dollars per week/day/second/whatever, why the hell would they sell their techniques for a measly $49? First off, whatever market the seller was operating in would quickly become over-saturated and prove less effective. No one would want to compromise that.

Second, why would it cost only $49 to learn how to make tens of thousands of dollars? We need to look to real life for a minute. Those earning high-five or even six figure salaries are those with college degrees. Now, the average cost of a college degree is about $50,000 and that is just in tuition and administrative costs. Factor in the cost of living for four years and any debt acquired and you’re easily looking at $100,000. How is it possible that anyone could make a similar salary at $99,951 less than what college graduates are paying? As long as you are a living, breathing human being, you should know the answer to that.