Avoiding Make Fast Money Affiliate Scams

This post is day 5 of the A Week Of Staying Safe series.

Affiliate scams are all over the place. Perhaps you have seen one of those “Make Fast Money” sites. They really aren’t that hard to spot, and some simple research can help you avoid problems you may have with unethical affiliate marketers failing to deliver what they promise:

Who Is The Affiliate “Expert”?

Personally, I would never buy anything that promises “money” unless I know who the person is that is selling it. Are they a huge affiliate marketer known all over the world for their great work, or are they just a scam artist? Have they written a book, or is this “make money” ebook their first? And most importantly, do you trust them? Take note of any controversy surrounding them.

Does The Creator And The Product Have A Clean Record?

If they are well known and have a clean record (run some Google/Yahoo searches) then they probably aren’t a scam artist. One thing that I have found helpful is to look on blogs that give reviews of the product and read the comments. If the product is bad there will be some negative comments, especially if you wait a few weeks after the post appears. Don’t forget to check forums as well.

Just a tip: when you run a search type in their name plus “scam” and see what comes up.

Testimonials Are Crap - Don’t Trust Them

A general rule of thumb is any testimonial for any “make money” products are crap. Don’t trust them. Even if the creator of the product is well known, it isn’t that hard to find random pictures of people and put fake testimonials next to their name. Many people do just that.

Count The Number Of Times They Say “Money”

Excessive use of the word “money” is a sure-fire sign that they are offering a bogus product. If they offer a voice recording of themselves also take note of how they sound and how many times they say “money”.

Don’t Trust Positive Reviews By Other Bloggers

Nowadays anyone can order a review of their product on many blogs. Also, many affiliate marketers are either A) friends with bloggers who show off their “make fast money” product, or B) convinced the blogger to get in early to steal money and join in on the pyramid scheme. Just like with testimonials, never ever trust positive reviews of “make money” schemes by bloggers.

Wait A Few Weeks Before Trying A New “Make Money” Product

Let other people buy the product first and check up on popular blogs to see if they talk about it and read any comments that result from the post. After a month or two run a search in Google for the product name plus “scam” and see what comes up.

Read The Terms Of Use 10 Times

Read and memorize the terms of use, that is the contract you agree to when you buy/use the product. Memorize the hell out of it and mention it if you have to report the person as a scam artist. If it seems a bit “odd” be weary.

Call Your Credit Card Company And Report The Product To The FTC If You Get Scammed

If you recently bought the product and found out it is nothing more than a big hoax and you payed with your credit card, contact your credit card company immediately (they may get your money back). If it really is a hoax chances are they have heard of it before, and if it is a big enough problem they could very well report them to the authorities. Don’t forget to report them to the FTC yourself.

Even if the business is out of the country the FTC can really cause some huge damage. Plus if a business out of the country and sells stuff to consumers in the U.S. they are still subject to many of the laws of the land, especially international laws. The FTC won’t get your money back, but if they get enough reports of illegal activity they could very well make sure noone else gets scammed.

Most Importantly… Don’t Buy The Product

To be 100% honest you can find the information in most “make money” ebooks online for free. Actually that’s pretty much true with any ebook.

A Week Of Staying Safe Articles:
Day 1 - The Ultimate Guide To Detecting E-Mail Scams
Day 2 - Huh? Who Sent That? - How To Find Out What Server Really Sent That E-Mail And How To Deal With Spam
Day 3 - Having A Good Host Can Sure Save Your Sanity
Day 4 - Top 3 Ways To Secure MySQL
Day 5 - Avoiding Make Fast Money Affiliate Scams
Day 6 - 17 Ways To Avoid Spyware Forever
Day 7 - Password Rotation

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