Some years ago we had internet “gurus” that tricked people with quick get rich schemes. People mostly figured out that all these “offers” were just scams so the dishonest internet marketers shifted gears. You will rarely hear the word “guru” now in the online money making world but this does not mean that these people disappeared. Now they just promote themselves as average Joes or internet marketing specialists. No matter the name, they are still the same people that want a quick dollar. What they promote is normally rubbish and will rarely make anyone money except the seller.
The good news is that you can eventually get a sense of what is true and what is not. Unfortunately, people generally get scammed many different times before they find something that works or they realize that hard work is what makes money online.
There are so many ways in which these scammers take advantage of a lack of knowledge that people have when they look for online money making opportunities. I am sure that I miss many but these are the ones that I basically see every single day.
The Auto Pilot Money Making Method
The scammers will tell you that they sell a way that is completely done for you and that runs on auto pilot. You are basically told that for around $20-$50 you can make hundreds of thousands without knowing anything or doing anything. In reality, the scammers take advantage of the fact that you do not really know much and do not care that you will not make anything. Do you think you will ever get your “money back guarantee” respected? NO!
Think about a really simple thing:
If it was easy to make money online, all people would be millionaires!
The Fake Income Proof
I challenge you to do a quick Google search with the simple term “Income Proof”. You will get this result. In an attempt to lure you in the dishonest marketer will tell you that he made X dollars with the system promoted. The result is basically something that someone else did or even a Photoshop altered image. While income proof can be true, in most cases it is not. You want to pay due diligence. Also, even if the income proof is true, there is no guarantee you will make the same money.
Creating A Fake Sense Of Urgency
The sense of urgency is a huge selling motivator in the online marketing world. Amazon actually pioneered it and created a staple that many try to replicate. In the online money making world the sense of urgency is almost always associated with some sort of scam.
In many situations you will hear that you were selected, that only a specific number of people can join or that the offer is time limited. You are told that the price is going to go up. So many things can be said to create this sense of urgency. What is quite funny for me is to see pages that say that the offer is available for only the next 15 minutes. When you refresh the page you see that the time refreshes. It is a huge surprise to me to see that people are falling victims to such a claim.
Remember that because when you buy someone makes money, it means that you will be able to buy the real product/method/strategy. If the urgency is present, there is a huge possibility you are faced with rubbish.
The Aggressive Upsell Channel
You are on a page that sells a money making method. You want to go to another site and you receive a pop-up message telling you that there is a special deal waiting for you if you stay on the page. In most cases you want to leave again since another deal will appear out of the blue. Products that are initially offered at, let’s say, $50, eventually cost only $5 to buy through these deals.
The idea in this case is that the dishonest internet marketer does not actually care about the price. He just wants to sell and make some cash. If the product is really good and has the value listed, nobody will offer it for less unless it is a part of a much larger deal.
Fake Reviews And Testimonials
Sometimes it is hard to spot this since there are situations when the reviews you see are actually legit. However, what you should know is that most of the online reviews and testimonials in this industry are fake. Actors are hired to tell you that you can make money too as they did get great results.
Because of the fact that it is hard to identify the fake review or the biased review (a review that only highlights positives as the reviewer has a hidden interest in making you buy something), my recommendation is to never trust any review you find. What you have to do is read more reviews, written by different people. Also, think about the authority of the individual that writes the review. If you know that his reviews are legit, you can trust him. If you know nothing about him, you have to double check everything that is written.
Future Reading: How To Identify Fake Online Reviews
Using Reputable News Logos As Endorsement
This is the one that is purely pathetic, dishonest and a huge proof of lack of ethics in business. The scammer pretends to be endorsed by reputable news networks like CNN, BBC, MSNBC and so on. The logo of these news channels is uploaded and no link exists to show that the endorsement actually exists. I once saw a site that had the Google and Yahoo logos on and that claimed their products are officially recommended by the search engine giants.
Whenever you see such claims, just go. The possibility that such a claim is true when referring to an online money making method or business is so low that you do not even want to consider it.
Conclusions
Generally speaking, when looking at online money making, you should not trust anything. When you see that people say that they will teach you how to make money, be careful. Remember the fact that people actually make money online in this industry by teaching others how to make money. This is done through commissions and other gained benefits. Because of this, you will be able to learn how to make money online for free. All the information you need is already available for you. You just have to look for it. Do not think that a miracle product will make you thousands of dollars.