How do you spot a scam?
@manaoagmemoirs (912)
Philippines
April 16, 2008 7:38am CST
The net is full of scams and some of us here were even victims. Did you learn from that experience or how do you avoid getting scammed? How would you spot a scam in the internet?
6 responses
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
16 Apr 08
honestly there's no surefire way to spot a scam. but like the saying goes "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't". think about it, when you see a deal that makes your heart starting beating faster. will you ever offer that to another person? especially someone you've never even met? then ask yourself, will someone then offer the same to you?
most of the time, scammers prey on the greed of the victims. if one is totally not greedy, one can almost certainly not be scammed. as for those that ask for sympathy, then it's really up to you to decide whether to give or not to give. one thing though, once you've given, don't ever think about it again. cheers :)
@manaoagmemoirs (912)
• Philippines
16 Apr 08
I would like to disagree with you at some point coz I believe that it's not basically greed that's driving some people to the baits of fraudsters but I think it's more of carelessness and ignorance. Everyone wants easy money only if they can easily or know how to spot a scam they wont bite the bait. It's that they probably are not used to the ways of online frauds. We can say that a scam is a scam the first time we see it because we already know how a scam looks like.
@gettysburg (108)
• United States
17 Apr 08
If the site has pictures of a beach, sports cars, mansions, a yacht, and money floating thru the air, it's a scam.
@melovean (160)
• India
16 Apr 08
well, spoting a scam is not an easy task...but i have tried many ways...but finally i have come to conclusion abt scamxposer.com & also squidoo.com...it gives u the info about the recent scams...also gives u the list of good programs....so i prefer going thru these sites before logging into any affliate sites...
regrds,
melovean
@manaoagmemoirs (912)
• Philippines
16 Apr 08
Scammers have a lot of ways to fool people. The problem is, that's their job and they always try to improve their scam systems and tools. New scam systems are born everyday.
@manaoagmemoirs (912)
• Philippines
17 Apr 08
Well, I am learning a lot here and I think I am becoming more responsible and discriminating in dealing with online companies and services. If it's not a scam sometimes they laced their sites with vicious software like viruses and trojans.
@sherrylwatts (326)
• United States
16 Apr 08
Quick and easy answer - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is - in other words if the payouts are way to high, be very suspicious. Also, legitimate companies do ask you to pay money for the ability to work for them - look at online jobs the same way you would working "out in the real world". Companies out their PAY you, not the other way around - and it's just like that on the internet. The most any company should ever ask you to pay is for a security/background check - and that will only be after extensive interviewing!
Good luck
@thechaos0 (44)
• Barbados
18 Apr 08
There are many easy ways to spot a scam. one simple way is to look out for upfront charges. If they request a fee upfront regardless of how meaningless the reason like an online job or free cash and they ask for your credit card number then you know its a scam. Another way is to just look at the site's design. if the site is so cheaply designed that it looks like a baby did it then that tells you a lot. But the best way to tell if an online scam is an online scam is if there is no real proof of accreditation on the site by a known organization. if there isn't or there is one you don't know and it has no link to the official accreditation website then you sir/ma'am have found yourself a scam.
