8 Ways To Avoid The Scammers
As the Internet grows so too will online scammers. It is so easy for someone to put up a website, make outlandish promises, steal money from unsuspecting people and then simply close down their site and move on to another domain and do the same thing all over again.
The good news is that with a little common sense and a little snooping, you can avoid the majority of the scammers.
This page lists a few simple ways to spot scammers.
1. Website Content that is not up to date
If you go to a site and find a lot of out of date information and I mean a lot of out of date information, leave the site because chances are whatever they are selling is not around anymore and if they can’t take the time to update their site, you don’t need to take the time to buy from them.
Now, you need to be careful about this as some sites have tens of thousands of pages and just about any site you go to online will have some out of date info on it, but if the home page and main sales links are outdated, that is a pretty good sign to leave the site.
2. Copyright Not up to date
Here again if the date is a year off, that is not a huge concern–especially around the January – February timeframe, but if the Copyright notice is years off, that is a bad sign.
Now you might think this is not a big deal, but it is a big deal because if the site owner does not take time to check something so simple, what does it say about the site itself?
3. No Phone Number at the Site
This pertains to someone with an actual domain and not an affiliate page. If I run a business, but I won’t put my phone number on my business so my customers can call me, what kind of business person does that make me? A business person who has no idea what business is all about is what I would say.
My number one rule for buying online is that I need to be able to talk with someone and if I cannot talk with someone, I don’t buy. I don’t care what the product, offer or how much I need the service. No phone, no money from me and you are strongly advised to do the same.
Now, some people will put a phone number on the site, but nobody ever answers the phone and if you leave a message and they don’t call you back, they are a complete waste of space and you should not deal with them.
Keep a record of who you called and you will be amazed at the total lack of response from most websites out there, but if you live by the no phone, no money rule, you will do right 99% of the time.
4. No Response to Support Tickets
This goes without saying that if someone cannot at the very least respond to your support ticket quickly, then don’t do business with them. Any site telling you they will get back with you in more than 24 hours is a waste of time.
5. Insane Promises of Instant Riches:
We have all seen these kinds of sites that promise $8,000+ per month or worse yet per week within 30 days of starting their free program. Don’t just walk away from these types of sites, run.
6. Read Their Disclaimers:
Few people ever read the disclaimers on sites or the terms of sites, but you will be surprised what you find. There is a company I came across and on their home page they tell you that you can find your customer fast, but if you read their disclaimer, I just wonder why anyone would buy from them.
An excerpt of their disclaimer is below. I put the part in bold that kept me from trying their service and will keep me from ever trying their service.
Clients using our advertising services more often than not do not report increase in leads, sales or profits, and many report losses. Successful results from our satisfied customers should be considered the exception rather than the rule. Clients utilizing our services can generally expect not to see any increase in sales, leads or profits. It is entirely possible you will lose money as a result of using our services.
7. Check Alexa and Whois information on sites
If you go to a site and it says they have been in business for X number of years, go check the Whois database and see when they registered the domain.
I was at one site and asked the owner how long he had been in business and when he told me 3 years, I checked the Whois and the domain was less than a year old.
When I confronted him with this information, the conversation ended which was fine with me as he was a liar anyway.
8. Do Your Research
The bottom line is you need to do some research before you buy something online. Avoid the instant money sites and the sites that promise thousands in 30 days and by all means avoid the site saying you can make $88,000 per month.
You need to walk before you run and you need to be able to build your business the way all successful businesses are built and that is one client at a time.
