Make Money Online Scams Exposed – 14 Ways To Spot One

So, today’s topic is: Make Money Online Scams Exposed. And how you can avoid them.

Now hopefully you’ve found my post before you’ve been scammed. And if you’ve already been scammed, I know how much that sucks because I’ve had it happen to me when I first started online years ago, and I’m sad to say it happened to me more than once.

I sure wish I knew what I know now about making money online scams back when I first started online because I would have saved myself a lot time and money.

So, in this post I want to go over why I feel so many people get scammed online. And then show you 14 telltale signs of a make money online scam so you can spot one and not become the next victim.

Alright, let’s get into this.

So, Why Do People Get Scammed Online?

Now, in my opinion there’s two primary reasons why people get scammed online.

The first being new to the whole idea of making money online. And what I mean by that is, not really understanding how the Internet works and what the real process for making money online is.

And because of that, you’re known as a newbie. You’re a babe in the woods and you’re vulnerable to everything. And the con artists that create these scams are banking on the fact you don’t have a clue of how to really make money online.

And it doesn’t help that there is a lot of misinformation of how to make money online. There’s more people online and have no clue how to make money online then there are people that know how to really make money online.

So, like I said, if you don’t understand the process for making money online then you’re vulnerable to every making money online scam that’s out there.

The other reason why people get scammed online is because they’re struggling financially and, in many cases, they have their back against the wall, and they’re looking for a quick way to make cash.

So, when they come across a website that tells them that they can make thousands of dollars within days or weeks logic tends to go out the window pretty fast and they think they’ve found their answer to their financial problems.

When in fact it’s the complete opposite because in most cases people are spending money they can’t afford to spend.

But their thinking, okay, I’ll buy into this program because it’s going to solve all my financial problems so even though I can’t afford to spend this money I’m going to do it anyway because I will make it back and then some.

And now they find out they just got scammed and they’re financially worse off than they were before they got sucked into whatever online scam program it was.

Here’s What To Look For

Now, when it comes to these making money online scams, they all pretty much follow the same tactics to suck you into their scam.

So, I’m going break down things so you’ll recognize things and then that way, you’re not going to become the next victim of that or any other making money online scam.

Now before I get into this, I have to say this. In fact, this is not the first time I’ve said this. And I know I’m going to repeated again and again.

There is no program, service, software, secret, done for you program or undiscovered method of making money online. Never has been, and never will be.

There is nothing online that’s going to magically put money in your bank account. Once you understand that the chances of you getting scammed are ZERO.

All right let me break down these making money online scams and show you the 14 common elements many of them share.

1) Ridiculous Income Claims

Alright look at these images below. These are just a few images from the hundreds of websites promoting scams that I have reviewed.

This banner is from a scam called Point To Click Profits.

The banner below is from a scam called Fast Cash App

What do they have in common? They promise ridiculous amounts of money.

And the majority of online scams will always promise you huge amounts of money that you can make in a very short period of time. And it’s these ridiculous promises of big bucks that suck people in.

Any time you come across a website that says they can show you how to make big easy money like $500 in a day, $5000 in a week or tens of thousands per month. That’s your first red flag. And that alone should have you leaving that website right away.

Because they’re already lying to you and it’s just going to get worse from there. There is no way you can just start online today and then start making $500 by the next day.

Making money online doesn’t work that way. But again, if you’re new to this or you’re scrambling because you’re struggling financially what they’re telling you may sound like the answer to your prayers. When in fact it’s not.

2) The Fake Life Sob Story

A lot of these scam websites are now using video to pitch their scam. And part of that pitch is what I call the fake life sob story.

And it usually goes something like this. Whoever is doing the sales pitch is struggling to make ends meat, they had all kinds of jobs and hated every single one of them. Maybe they’re living in a crappy apartment.

And then sone fake life stories include some out of the blue financial problem has come up and now they’re back is really against the wall and they needed a way to make money.

So, they went online searching for ways to make money online. They spent money on all types of courses, bought all the books from all the gurus but nothing worked. They just ended up having less money and nothing to show for it.

Then all of a sudden, they stumbled across the secret magic formula that no one’s ever heard about and boom, there making hundreds if not thousands of dollars per day.

Of course, this is all bullshit. The only reason why they’re telling you this fake sob story is so they can make a connection with you.

Maybe you have a shitty job and you’re looking for a way out. Maybe you’re living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe you spent a bunch of money on programs, books and so-called gurus and nothing’s worked.

And when they say this, they’re hoping some of what they’re saying makes a connection with you. And by making this connection you can start relating to this fake story. And if they can make that connection and make you relate and get your head nodding yes.

They have a higher probability of getting your money. And that’s the only reason why they’re telling you this story because their end goal is just to get your money.

You have to remember they do not care about you no matter what they say. And believe me there is no limit to the things they will say.

In a scam I reviewed called ultimate paydays, the scammer said that he was almost diagnosed with diabetes.

I’ve reviewed other scams where the scammer is saying that his “wife” or “daughter” was diagnosed with some disease and now they needed expensive medication.

Or if it wasn’t that, all of a sudden he found out his wife was pregnant and they had no idea how there can afford a new child.

Again, my point is they’ll say anything. And no matter what they say it always comes back around to that secret magical way they discovered for making big money online.

And because they know exactly what you’re going through and that they are such a nice person they want to share this secret with you so you don’t have to struggle anymore like they did.

When you hear this, you need to step back and think logically. And I know that can be hard to do in the heat of the moment. But think about it.

They’ve never made a dime online, they spent all this money in the past on gurus, courses, and programs. And then all of a sudden, they stumbled across the secret magic formula that no one’s ever heard about and they’re making all this money all of a sudden.

Now when I say that to your right now. How stupid and far-fetched does that sound? It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Okay, remember that if you come across one of these websites that has this kind of sob story.

3) Everything Is Done For You

Another part of the formula that sucks people into these scams is they will say that everything is done for you. So that means you don’t need any technical skills or experience as an Internet marketer and everything is set up for you and its going to run automatically on autopilot.

Well, no wonder that sucks people in. Who doesn’t dream of not having to work to make money? But making money online just doesn’t work that way. You’re going to have to work and work hard if you want to start making money online.

And when I say make money online what I’m really talking about is building a thriving sustainable online business that’s going to make your money.

Now of course there are services that you can use to help build your business so you can make money such as things like WordPress which is one of the most popular tools for building websites.

You can use services like Aweber which is an autoresponder service that you use if you’re doing email marketing. These are just a few examples of tools that you can use online to build your business.

But like I mentioned before there is no product, service or platform where you don’t have to do anything and it’s going to start pouring money into your bank account.

So, if you come across a website that tells you that everything is done for you and all you have to do is spend X amount of dollars and everything will be set up for you and you don’t have to do anything to make money. That’s when you run away. It’s all lies.

4) Fake Scarcity

Every one of these making money online scams includes fake scarcity. And that’s where they tell you things like once I’ve accepted X amount of people this offer will not be available anymore and this website is coming down.

Sometimes you’ll see a banner at the top of the website that says the website is coming down at midnight and it shows the current date. Like the one below from a scam program called Bullet Proof Profits.

Spoiler alert that’s just a piece of programming script. I could add that to my website if I wanted to.

This screenshot is from a scam program called 10 Minute Paydays that uses fake scarcity in its video sales pitch.

But no matter what they say they’re only saying this to scare you so you do what they don’t want you to do. And that’s do your due diligence regarding their offer.

They don’t want you to step away from the website and check them out because they know as soon as you do, you’ll learn their program is a scam. So, they do everything in their power to make you think you’re missing out on something so you don’t leave their site.

When in fact you’re not missing out on anything. But this marketing tactic works and it works very well.

As human beings we don’t want to feel like we’re being left out or that we’re missing anything so we’ll put logic aside and we’ll blindly jump headfirst into things that we should not have jumped into in the first place.

So, you when you see this stuff know that it’s all BS. If this is such a fantastic opportunity, fight the urge of reaching in your wallet and spending money and just wait 24 hours. I can guarantee you that website has not gone anywhere unless it’s been shut down for being a scam.

And you’ll see the same old scare tactics trying to keep you there so they can get your money.

5) You’re Never Told What You’ll Be Doing

You’ll know you’re at a scam website when the entire sales pitch is all about how easy it is to make this money, how much money you’re going to be making and all the wonderful things you can do with all this money and how easy it’s going to make your life.

But here’s the problem, they leave out one important thing. They never tell you what you’re going to be doing to make all this money.

A legitimate opportunity yes can include talking about the opportunity of making a good amount of money and the things you can do with that money. But they also go into great detail of what you have to do in order to earn this money.

That way you have all the information you need and you can make an intelligent decision as to whether or not the opportunity is something you want to get involved with.

There is no way in hell should you give anybody any of your money if they are not going to tell you what it is you’ll be doing to earn that money.

If all they you’re doing is blowing sunshine up your ass telling you how wonderful your life is going to be with all the money you’re going to be making. Run away, it’s a scam.

6) Unknown Owner

Like I said earlier a lot of these scams are now using video and I’m seeing more and more videos that just have a spokesperson and all you hear is a voice. But you don’t see anybody.

They just give a pen name because a lot of these voices you’re hearing are hired actor just reading a script. So, you have no idea who the owner really is.

You’re just listening to somebody pitch about an opportunity and they are telling you a story.

Now for some reason because its online people believe what they’re hearing and they blindly open up their wallets and because of that they lose money to these scams.

And I’m always amazed by this because the things that we would not let happen in the real world we allow to happen online. I just don’t get that?

I’m amazed at how trusting we are online, when being online is where you should have your guard up at a 1000%. And this is where that old saying comes in that you probably heard your mom tell you.

If it sounds too good to be true than it probably is.

That’s mom’s way of telling you to trust your gut. If you don’t know who’s claiming to be the owner of any program and all you hear is a voice. Don’t give them your money!

And yep, I’m going to say it again. Leave the website you’re about to be scammed.

7) Fake Owner

Okay you’re at a website pitching you an amazing opportunity and there’s pictures of the “owner” or “creator” of the program.

If this opportunity has any of the other parts of the scam tactics this just means that this con artist has put a little more effort into trying to con you out of your money.

You’ll find a lot of these images are just stock images and they are not the owner or creator of the program.

As I’ve mentioned I’ve done hundreds of these reviews and I’ve proven the so-called owner is fake and is just a stock photo.

Here’s some images where I’ve proven the owners of these programs are completely fake.

This first image is the so-called owner of a scam called AZ Formula. As you can see it’s just s stock photo of some guy from Shutterstock.

Here’s another so-called owner of a scam program called Millionaire Biz Pro.

And it’s not hard to find these images that these con artists can use. You just go to places like Shutterstock and buy an image and you can use it for whatever you like.

Now I do this deep into reviewing these scam programs and that includes sourcing out whether the images are real or not.

And you can do that as well too. But if the opportunity has the other elements that we’ve just discussed you don’t need to go this far because you’ve already discovered that you’re being lied to, and what you’re being offered is a scam.

8) Fake Testimonials

Now along with images of fake owners you’ll find all of these scams will include so-called proof of how successful people are using their program.

And along with the fake images of the owners the testimonials are fake as well to. And they add these testimonials so they can add an element of legitimacy to whatever program or service they are pitching.

Here’s some images of some scam programs that I reviewed that prove the testimonial they were giving are completely fake.

This fake testimonial is from a scam program called 7 Minute Daily Profits.

Here’s another fake testimonial from another scam program called AZ Sniper.

And they do this because their program is a scam and no one is making the money they claim they’re making so they can’t ask their customers to give a testimonial so they pay people to give testimonials.

And many of these people that are providing these fake testimonials are hired from places like fiverr.

And over the course of doing so many reviews I’ve come to recognize a lot of these people doing these testimonials because these people are doing testimonials for other scam programs too.

Now I have to tell you I’m on the fence with the people that do these testimonials. I understand that they are just hiring themselves out for a service which is giving testimonials.

But at the same time, they’re lying because they’ve never tried the program they are talking about and they’re not making money with the program they’re talking about. So, these people are actually helping scam you out of your money.

If I was offering a service where I was giving testimonials there’s no way I would give anyone a testimonial unless I tried the product.

9) Fake Income Proof

Now along with the fake testimonials, fake owners, and fake scarcity a lot of these scans will include fake income proof.

So, what they’ll do is go to a place like Shutterstock or Getty images buy a photo and then use a program like Photoshop and put together an image showing people how much money people are making with their program.

But it’s all lies.

Now I know the average person is not really going to dig in and start investigating and searching out photos. But when I do reviews that’s what I do. I’m not just telling you something is a scam or it’s a program that you should avoid just because I think so.

I make sure I prove to you that the program that you’re being pitched is something that you want to avoid because it is a scam.

So, here are a few images from a scam program called Fast Home Sites. And in their video sales pitch they showed a few images one from a guy named “Jay” and another image from a girl called “Lin”.

And supposedly these people were using this program and here’s the proof of the money they have made using the program.

Well as you can see it’s all BS. The con artist that created this program went and got a couple stock photos put them together with fake income numbers and now is presenting that as “proof” the program being offered is the real deal.

Now you don’t have to go do the deep investigation of finding these types of photos like I do. Because if the scam has the previous elements such as the ridiculous income claims, the fake scarcity and the other elements we’ve covered so far.

Well by this time you should have left the site. But if you’re still watching the sales pitch video and you see images like this you can be sure there’s a 99.9% chance they’re fake, and it’s now’s the time you absolutely have to leave the website.

Also, in many of these videos you’ll see images of Clickbank income screen shots.

Now, Clickbank is an affiliate network and it is a great resource for affiliates to find products to market.

However, many scam artists will use fake Clickbank income statement screen shots as “proof” of the income that can be made using whatever scam program they are trying to sell you.

So, you definitely have to be wary of these types of income statements when it comes to Clickbank income proof.

Now if you want to see how these screen shots are faked you can do a search on YouTube and find people showing how this is done.

10) Bogus Or No Contact Information

Any person or company that is offering you a way of making big money but has no contact information or non-functional contact information you need to take that as a HUGE red flag.

Legitimate companies that are presenting you with a business opportunity, especially someone that is talking big numbers. Has contact legitimate information. Plus, they will have information on who owns the company, where they are, who manages it and so on.

If you have none of that. I don’t care what they are offering run far and run fast.

When you’re considering spending a large amount of money, which many scams will ask you to spend. You must have the ability to contact someone prior to buying. You should have an email address or some type of contact form.

Before you spend a dime get in touch with these people and confirm there is someone at the other end. If they have a phone number – call them. Search them out on Google. Do everything you can to be sure they are legit.

And if you have any reservations, move on. Keep your money where it belongs – in your pocket.

Now, when I am doing reviews of suspected scams there’s this cool free online service where you can check the status of any email address to make sure that it’s legit. https://email-checker.net/.

Also, another thing you can do is check the ICANN database and see when the domain you’re at was registered. The reason you want to do that is because in many video sales pitches or information on a website. They may tell you they have been in business for many years.

And then when you check the domain URL you find out the domain was only registered within a year or less. Another red flag.

11) Are You Being Pitched A Product Or Lifestyle

One of the ways of scamming you is when you’re watching the sales video, free webinar or however you are being pitched. They spend more time telling you how they live.

I’ve seen these sales pitches where the person pitching their offer shows you the exotic cars they have, usually in the driveway with a huge house in the background.

They talk about exotic vacation spots they’ve been to with their family. And of course, they do this many times per year and are still making money while on vacation.

And when they do show you something related to the opportunity. They show you just enough to get you really excited. But you’ll always hear something like: “Everything will be revealed to you once you join”.

This is what I call all Sizzle and no Steak.

Yes, there are people online making some great incomes. But most of the people that are making a full time living online are not living these extravagant lifestyles. And even if they are, they don’t brag or talk about it.

People making money online are just like you. They live in a normal home, have a nice car, go on a yearly vacation. And get up each morning, get dresses and have breakfast.

But instead of going to work for someone else, they head to their home office and go to work.

And to get to where they are financially, they have put in the time, energy, and effort to get to where they are. And it did not happen overnight. Some have put in years of commitment before seeing significant results.

So, if you come across anything like these – all Sizzle and no Steak, and I get it, it can be tempting because maybe you’re thinking this is the one – trust me it’s not.

Just walk away, the only thing you’re missing is losing your money to a scam.

12) Fake Comments

Just like fake testimonials many of these scam websites will include fake comments near the bottom of the sales page. The one’s I see being used a lot are comments that look like active Facebook comments.

They appear real and each one of them is gushing over how great the program or opportunity is. But when you try to interact with them, you soon discover these are not real comments because nothing happens or you’re sent to another page. All it is, is a photoshopped image.

If you come across a site that has a fake comment section that’s a sure sign you’re on a scam site.

13) No Product

When you come across an opportunity and they say they have a product or training and all it costs is X amount of dollars to join. But the only way you can make money is by referring other people into the program. You’ve come across a pyramid scheme.

Sure, they have some useless product or training but you can’t sell that product or training you can only sell the opportunity of joining. Classic pyramid scheme.

An example of a gifting pyramid scheme is one call Bitlocity. They say it’s an educational technology platform that’s supposed to teach you about blockchain technology. However, the only way you can make money through this so-called educational platform is buy recruiting people into the platform.

There is no other way of making money through the platform. Now don’t be fooled thinking, well they are offering training. Sure, but you can’t make money through this platform other than recruiting people. And that’s a pyramid scheme.

Plus, if you want to be eligible for bigger commissions you need to pay more money to get involved. And for this particular scam. The starting buy in is $25.00.

But if you want to make bigger money you would need to pay for the other membership levels. And with Bitlocity you have 13 different membership levels that range for the Bronze $25.00 membership all the way up to Crown Ambassador membership for $100,000.

And if you wanted to participate in the entire program, it would cost you $189,000.

Now when it comes to these pyramid schemes eventually, they do collapse. As more people find out it’s a scam. The harder it’s going to be to find new recruits. And when this starts to happen the money will stop. And then things collapse.

And as with all pyramids and or gifting scams the majority of people will end up losing their money.

14) Big House, Fancy Car, Exotic Location

This is old-school marketing right from the con artist’s handbook. And even today they use this tactic. Why? Because it still works.

So, what these con artists do is in their copy or in their video. It’s usually a video. They will show you a big house, a fancy car or do the video from an exotic location. Or do all three.

When I see this, I don’t have to watch the whole video or read the entire copy. Because I know it’s a scam.

However, when many people see this, their brain shuts down and they start dreaming that this could be them and boom they’ve been sucked in. And before they know it, they’ve handing over their money never to be seen again.

And the reason people get sucked in is because they are told what they want to hear. All they hear is how making all this money and getting all this stuff is going to solve all their problems. And that’s all everyone wants is to have a secure financial future.

So common sense goes out the window, people hear just what they want to hear. And these scam artists know exactly what to say to you, that’s why you only hear what you want to hear.

Guess what? The house is rented, the car is rented, and chances are they did a photo shoot while they were on vacation claiming that’s where they live.

I remember a while back I came across one of these scam programs. And I remember some putz con artist was talking about his new corvette. He had a camera in the passenger seat filming himself driving and you can see the rental tag hanging off the key chain.

I never said these guys were that smart, but they are smart enough to get your money. And that’s as smart as they have to be.

A Few Tips So You Don’t Get Scammed

Now before I wrap this up I want to share a few tips with you.

1) Listen To Your Gut

Remember what your mom told you? “If it sounds too good to be true – it is”. Listen to what your gut is telling you. That’s your body’s way of saying something is not right.

But here’s the problem and why people get scammed – they don’t listen to their gut. They set logic aside and convince themselves that the feeling they are feeling is wrong and then the next thing you know they’ve been scammed.

For me, if something seems at all a bit hinky – I’m gone and I don’t look back.

2) Slow Down – Do Your Homework

Remember I mentioned the fear of loss tactic? That’s the one that gets a lot of people; they’re manipulated into believing if they don’t act now they’re going to miss out. Well, that’s bullshit.

If it’s such a great opportunity it’s not going anywhere and it will be there tomorrow. So slow down and do your homework. And that means taking the time to research the opportunity and see if it’s the real deal.

Here’s a list of resources you can use when doing your research:

• Google – A good search to do in Google is use the product name and then add Scam or Review to your search term. So, product name + scam
• Facebook
• Rip Off report
• Trustpilot
• Better Business Bureau
• Sitejabber
• Truth In Advertising
• Reddit

I’ve been around for a very long time and I’ve seen a lot. So you can also contact me if you’re not sure about a product or service.

Wrapping Up

Unfortunately making money online scams aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and they’ll continue stealing people’s money.

But now that you know what to look for, you’re better armed so you won’t become some con artist’s next victim.

Again, just remember…

There’s no programs, software, done for you service or undiscovered magical method for making money online. Never has been never will be.

And anyone that tells you that, is lying to you. And all they want is your money. And they don’t care if you succeed or not. And they’re going to tell you whatever you want to hear so they can get your money.

If your goal is to come online and build a business and have that business become your full-time income. You have to give yourself time to build that foundation for your business before you start generating revenue.

Building a REAL online business takes not only time. It takes dedication and hard work.

Also, don’t put unrealistic pressure on yourself saying that you’re going to make X amount of dollars in an unrealistic amount of time.

Because if you do and you don’t accomplish those income goals you may get frustrated and now you’re pissed off and then maybe you even decide to give up on your dream.

If you want to start making money online you have to go into things with your eyes wide open and with have realistic goals and expectations. And of course, willing to do the work that’s required to make your business a success.

And run away from these get rich overnight scam offers. Do that, and the sky’s the limit with what you can accomplish online.

If you’re still searching for a legit way of making money online. One of the most proven and successful business models for making money online is affiliate marketing.

In fact, this is how I make a full time online income. And have been doing so since 2005. If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, I recommend checking out Wealthy Affiliate.

Since 2005 they’ve been providing people all the tools, resources, training and personal one-on-one support to anyone that wants to use affiliate marketing to build a thriving online business around a interest, hobby or passion.

I hope you found this information helpful and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

And of course, any time you need a hand you can always give me a buzz by emailing me here.

I believe in you!
Leo