How to Check to See If Paid Surveys at Home Are a Scam

Paid surveys are websites that offer money to people who complete surveys on a specific topic or brand. Companies are willing to pay people in order to find out what they can do to improve their product or business. Most survey companies offer people money anywhere between 50 cents to $20 for a single survey. There are many unscrupulous companies, however, that are merely scams invented to get information or a credit card number out of you. You should always research a company before signing up to take its urveys.

Instructions

1. Check the survey company on Google to find out if there are any scam stories or warnings. You can type in "(company name) scam" to do a business check.

2. Look to see if they require upfront payment. Legitimate paid survey companies do not require a fee to sign up. Never give your bank account or credit card information upfront.

3. Read their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. There should be a statement to the effect of "we do not sell your information to third parties." Try to find a Code of Ethics seal on their website from one of the major Ethics organizations (for example, CASRO, CMOR, ESOMAR and MRA).

4. Read the promotional advertising for signs of excess. Websites that claim you will make huge salaries working only a few hours a day are usually scams.

5. Look for their contact information. There should be at least an email address and phone number. Call and email them to see if you can speak to anyone. Scam sites rarely answer phone calls or emails.

6. Go to the Better Business Bureau website and search for the survey company by name. If they don't have a BBB rating, it doesn't necessarily mean they are a scam, but companies that use BBB have a higher standard of customer service.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not give out your Social Security number until you have verified that it is a legitimate company.

References

• My Survey 123: How to Identify and Avoid Paid Survey Scams

Resources

• My Survey 123: Paid Survey Scams