If you have been searching for a way to make money online, odds are you have run into a scam or two. I know I have. It’s extremely frustrating and sometimes a big waste of money.  No one likes to be scammed and most of us are trusting people who can find ourselves at the mercy of fancy promises and shiny objects.

How to Avoid Online Scams

Avoiding scams is not as easy as it sounds. They are scams for a reason. There is usually no huge sign saying “THIS IS A SCAM – BEWARE.”  But if you know what to look for (small red flags), you can successfully avoid most scams out there.

Top 5 Things to Look For

1.   No Contact Information on Website – If there is no way to get a hold of the creator/owner of a program or product, that is usually a big red flag.  On the same token, if they have customer support but you never get a response, then that is essentially the same as “not having a way to contact” the company. 

2.  Tons of Upsells – If you purchase the product and then are immediately slammed with an upsell, you are probably in for a bunch more.  Low ticket items ($8 or less) tend to “get you in the door” and once inside, you are constantly being sold on additional products.

3.  A Money Back Guarantee – While a money back guarantee is reassuring at times, I personally prefer the “try it before you buy it” approach.  When you buy a new car for instance, you get to test drive it before you buy…. check out all the features and flaws.  If a company is OVERLY offering a guarantee (meaning they keep shoving it in your face in order to convince you to buy), they might just be hiding the fact that their product is pure junk.  And usually they are right.

4.  Outrageous Claims of Success (usually with little effort involved) – Get rich quick schemes have always employed this method of attracting customers…  Promising HUGE earnings OVERNIGHT with little to no effort.  Most people can see right passed these scams, but others get sucked in by the shiny object in front of them.

5.  A Long Video Sales Page that never really gets to the point – We’ve all landed on a sales page that has a video playing on it.  Sometimes we’ll stick around thinking this could be the miracle product we’ve been looking for.  But 25 minutes into the video, we still have no new information and are starting to get annoyed.  If the product they are selling is really that great, they would be eager to introduce it right away, knowing that the product could speak for itself. If they have to convince you before you even know what the product is, it’s likely a scam.

Top 5 Things That Tell You It’s LEGIT (not a scam)

Now that we’ve covered what to look for to AVOID scams, let’s try to find the Legitimate products out there that can really deliver on what they promise.

1.  A “Try it Before You Buy It” Option – If a company has a Free Trial that is truly free (meaning you don’t have to give them a credit card for when the trial period runs out), then they are likely a legitimate company.  One of my favorite programs that offers a free membership option is Wealthy Affiliate.  You can take it for a test drive and see if it’s a good fit for you.

2. Training and Support – I emphasize this all the time, that getting the proper training and having expert support is the key to success for any online business.  If there is a community of members or an online support team available, then you can be assured that the program is legitimate.

3. Access to the Owners/Creators – This is HUGE… if a creator of a product or program is not accessible, then they must not believe in their product. But if they are available and willing to help those who ask, then you are getting the advice and training from the source itself… what could be better.

4. A Spam Free Environment – If a program has a strict “no spamming” policy, you can be assured that they are serious about people learning and being successful.  No one likes being spammed constantly.

5. Constantly Providing NEW UP-TO-DATE Training – The Internet and online marketing is constantly evolving and if you plan on making money online, you have to be ahead of the game and the competition.  Programs that offer up-to-date training and features are going to be the ones that make you money for a long time to come.  Those that don’t update will soon become irrelevant and stale.

Legit vs Scams – A Comparison

Below is a Table comparing two different programs…. A legitimate training program (Wealthy Affiliate) vs. a known scam (Pure Leverage).  When you are trying to determine if something is legit or a scam you can ask these questions and see how many “yeses” it gets.