How Can I Avoid Online Scams?

Online scams are everywhere. If you have been on the internet for any length of time then you have probably come across scam artists or heard of someone getting scammed. In fact, maybe YOU have been scammed.

I know I have and it is really painful. Especially if you are counting on a product to help you make progress online and you do not have extra money lying around just in case you get ripped off.

But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that scams are RAMPANT.

As much as the internet makes it easy to make money for just about anyone anywhere in the world, it also makes it easy for crooks to rob innocent people of their hard earned money by presenting them with fake offers that look legitimate.

It is all too easy to put up a website, set up a merchant account and charge people for fake or none existent products. Worse still, scam artists do not even need a website because they can easily use sites like eBay and other selling platforms to con people.

I know this from experience because I have been scammed of about $500 on such a site in the past.

A certain guy claimed to be selling a product that I badly needed at the time. At $500, I thought I was getting a real bargain considering the nature of the product. I even talked to him on the phone just to make sure he was for real.

But as soon as I paid him the money, he disappeared! His phone line no longer worked and he did not answer my emails. I lost $500 and I still did not have what I needed badly.

Needless to say, it was a painful experience, especially since I was doing my final year of law school and did not have much time to work.

But there is a rainbow at the end of every tunnel because I learnt 3 KEY things from that terrible ordeal. And the good news is that I will share them with you right here, right now.

So let us get into them!

In order to avoid online scams, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that you always deal with reputable online companies and people. The more established the businesses you deal with, the better.

It is very tempting to fall for an incredible bargain that is being offered by some person who no one knows. If you just cannot resist the deal, here is what I recommend.

Do some thorough research on the person behind the bargain before buying anything from them. For example, check for reviews on their products. Check for comments about them on niche forums. Google their name in quotation marks. If they have scammed many people, someone will probably say something online.

Of course you should also be aware that some people will call others scam artists just to try and destroy their reputation. That is unfortunate but true. But generally speaking, if someone runs an honest online business, they will have more good than bad things said about them.

The second thing I have learned about how to avoid online scams is that you should only buy things from online businesses that have a reliable and helpful customer support service. So before you buy anything test their support by asking a few questions.

I noticed that when I asked the guy who scammed me a few questions, he started becoming irritated and wanted me to buy quickly. I ignored this warning sign to my detriment.

A legitimate online business will be more than happy to patiently answer your questions. Of course you need to be serious and ask relevant questions otherwise they will think you are just playing around with them and increasing their support costs for nothing.

Last but certainly not least, try to completely avoid offers that are too good to be true. I think hype is the hallmark of online scammers , particularly in the internet marketing niche. They play on our strong desires to find high quality solutions at the lowest prices.

So they offer things like a money making system that will make you hundreds of thousands of dollars within one month even if you have never made any money online.  And it only costs $17!

Personally, I FLEE from such offers. Think about it. If you discovered such a money making system, would you sell it for $17 only? Strike that. Would you EVER sell it? From where am sitting, I do not think so. You would be quietly working that system like a raging lunatic day and night!

There is one other thing I have since learned about avoiding online scams. Fortunately, I discovered this one without being a victim again. It is highly important to look at the quality of the website you intend to buy something from.

If it looks terrible, like little thought was put into creating it, it is probably because it was created for the sole purpose of ripping you off!

A legitimate online business takes pride in its website and wants to make a great first impression. A scammer on the other hand does not care about first impressions. He or she only wants your money.

But even if a website is well designed and has information that is presented in a professional manner, that is NOT a sure sign that it does not belong to a scammer. You still need to check for the first 3 points.

If you do that, it will be harder, in fact much harder, for you to get scammed. So start putting these points into practice and playing your part in putting these scammers out of business forever!

To Your Success

Bruce

You can learn more about online scams here.

› [Online Scams]

Get Weekly Premium Insights on Success with Internet Marketing



We'll never ever send spam!