Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Internet access
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Step 1
The first thing to consider when reading an article about making money online is, does the article sound believable? Does it sound legal? Does the program or system that you are buying into produce anything tangible or of any real worth to anyone? Does it offer a guarantee or trial period?
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Step 2
If everything seems to be legitimate at first glance, then it's time to do some investigating. Does the website offer contact information? Is there a phone number listed? If so, call the number and try to speak to a living human being. If you can't get through to anybody now, imagine how hard it will be to get a refund later if needed.
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Step 3
Visit the Better Business Bureau's website (www.bbb.com) and search for the website address (url) for the company that you are considering paying for services. Are they registered? If so, do they have any complaints against them? Do a whois lookup on the domain name. (ex. makelotsofmoneyovernight.com) Web sites like register.com are useful in performing a whois lookup. What name is the website registered under? If you search on this name, what information can you find online? If you find other web sites associated with the original website, search for them with the Better Business Bureau as well.
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Step 4
If you decide to make a purchase from a website, check to see if the "check out" page is on a secure server. If you are using Internet Explorer, look for the yellow lock symbol at the bottom of your web browser. Also be sure the web address begins with "https". When making a purchase, use a credit card rather than a debit card. Credit card companies usually cover fraudulent spending if someone obtains unauthorized access to your account.
Comments
awritermom said
on 2/25/2009 Excellent tips. Thanks for sharing!
veryfaraway said
on 2/17/2009 I forgot about the significance of the yellow lock symbol! Thanks for the reminder, *****
betterbody said
on 2/10/2009 Great information. Thank you for writing this.
severt101 said
on 2/7/2009 Great article. 5*
amorfreelance said
on 2/4/2009 Good article. Also, i'm a fulltime freelance writer, but I have ran into a couple of scams. For example, Top Rank Marketing with Ben Cloutier, you want to stay away from him. There's TopRank Marketing, then Top Rank Marketing. TopRank Marketing is fine, it's Top Rank Marketing you want to watch out for. The president of Top Rank marketing is Ben Cloutier and he'll send you groups of one hundred articles, he sent me 150 pet articles, I completed them in less than a week and I have not heard from him yet and it has been five months.