It can be time-consuming and energy-sapping to deal with online scams, especially those that sound too good to be true and seem legitimate on the surface. After all, you are all eager to explore a new possibility or venture that promises good profits as you look forward to freeing yourself from the systemic oppression of the dysfunctional economic system, and the last thing you want is to deal with a scam that only serves to dampen your hopes and enthusiasm.
While there are authentic cases of really good income-generating online platforms or ventures, it seems that more often than not, many of them turn out to under-deliver their promises, or are outright scams. To help you save time and energy and avoid possible heartaches in such situations, I would like to share a bit of my experience and observations so that you will also not make the same mistakes that I made in the past.
Based on testimonials, personal experience and research, the following are some examples of scammy or dubious websites. (Information is correct at the time of posting.)
1. Example 1 (Book publishing)
2. Example 2 (Health resources)
3. Example 3 (Permaculture)
4. Example 4 (E-commerce webhost)
Feel free to do your own research on the above (as well as other websites that you have come across) and check reviews to verify for yourself based on the most updated information.
Common warning signs of a scam
- Overly aggressive advertising on Google search and Facebook
- Not using real names or not showing their real profile photos
- Contact information (email, physical address, etc) is missing or incomplete or error-prone
- Aggressive sales tactics (e.g. sending frequent spammy e-newsletters, making persistent phone calls, asking for credit card details without having given you sufficient information or time to make an informed decision, etc)
- Not delivering their promises
- Posting fake reviews and testimonials in BBB, Google map, and other websites.
- Offering free course or other free stuff as a bait (though there are also good ones using this method)
- Not giving refund as promised
- Not replying emails; poor or no customer service
- Use stock images that are not related to the organisation.
It takes skill and time to sieve the chaff from the wheat. It seems that in every industry, there is unfortunately one or two scammers that bring a bad name to the industry in which the majority are honest and legitimate.
How to tell the wolves from the sheep?
1. Google the name of the person and organisation, and read reviews. E.g. “name” + “reviews” or “name” + “scam”
2. Look for tell-tale signs as mentioned in the above list of warning signs
3. Contact the person or organisation of the website directly and see how they respond to your enquiry before making any commitment to them.
Additional notes
1. Just as not every positive review is real (especially if the commenter or reviewer is anonymous), not every negative review is real either. Some negative reviews could be posted by haters who are out to destroy a legitimate person’s or organisation’s reputation.
2. The above tell-tale signs are just guidelines. They don’t determine with 100% certainty that someone or some organisation is fake or fraudulent. There are honest and legitimate websites and organisations that may show some of these signs (such as offering free stuff to download) for good reasons. There may also be inexperienced or new Internet marketers who are just starting out and they may not know how to present information on their websites correctly or appropriately, and are not out to cheat anyone.
Hence, it is best to follow your gut instinct and do research, especially when you are about to give away your email address or credit card details to a website or person in charge of a website.
Ultimately, it is a matter of trust and faith. If you decide to take that step of faith, all is not lost even if that organisation turns out to be scammy. At worst, you may lose some money or you may receive spam emails – you can always filter or block those emails, or unsubscribe them. At best, you can learn from the experience and move on wiser than before.
jimmytst editorial & photography 