10 Problems With Paid Surveys

Anyone who has ever tried to earn through paid surveys knows that it is not an easy process. Not only is it extremely difficult to make money, it is also a tough process actually looking for people who honestly want to pay you for your feedback. Sure enough, there are businesses and companies out there that need reviews, surveys and general market information from their potential customers, and are willing to pay appropriate amounts for this. However, among these are several scams veiled as online businesses. Since the survey market is very popular among people looking to make some extra money using the internet, this need is now widely exploited and there are thousands of scams out there.

When looking for a paid survey, it might be extremely difficult to know whether or not it is a scam. However, here are the 10 main problems with these scams that you can look for. Remember that all of these are red flags and surveys that have these traits are most likely to be scams!

Bare Sign-Up Pages

Websites that have extremely simple and straightforward sign-up pages with very little information about the survey or about the payment are likely to be scams. Therefore, if you reach a webpage that allows you to enter your name, email and perhaps your phone number, but has no other links to any information that you might need, stay away from it. It is like that the ‘next step’ that they promise does not really exist!

No Privacy Policy

This one is a major red flag. While many internet users don’t realize this and most have never made an effort to read the privacy policy of any website, this is actually a great way to save yourself from a scam. A privacy policy published on any website is primarily a legally binding statement, where the website promises that it will not use any of the personal information of the participants anywhere without their consent. Paid survey websites that do not have a privacy policy are definitely a threat.

However, don’t simply look for a title called privacy policy; thoroughly read it! This is because it might state some things that you don’t agree with, and you will later not be able to complain about it. Read more on  why people must read privacy policy.

No Information About the Company

If you can’t find an About Us page on the website with proper details, don’t sign up immediately. Ideally, there should be a functioning email address that someone responds from, a phone number and other details about how the company operates. If you can’t seem to be able to reach anyone who owns the page, stay away from it!

Personal Information Needed

Another problem with scams that pose to be paid online surveys is that they ask for too much information. Generally, a survey site will only need general details and your email. If too much information is asked for, perhaps your address or your bank account details, be cautious.

Unrealistic Promises

There are very few people out there who will genuinely want to pay you $50 or more for a single survey. While there certainly are genuine focus groups, most people who promise large amounts of money are scams. Particularly look out for those who promise you thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Fees

Most legitimate online surveys do not need any fees. At most, they might require a few referrals before you can start giving surveys and getting paid. However, any site that asks you to pay a joining fee before you can proceed to anything is likely to be a scam. This is a major problem with most scams, where they will use the financial information provided by you and perhaps make illegal use of your money or use your financial accounts. Be very careful about where you make your payments, and never make any payments on pages that are not secure with https and those that do not have any reliable method of payment and need your credit cards.

Claim to Not Be Scams

If a website is stressing too hard on the fact that it is not a scam, it probably is. This is because genuine paid survey sites are easy to spot and easy to contact. They will not have to stress that they are not fooling people; it will just show!

Poor Reputation

Before you sign up for anything even on websites that look legitimate, make sure your look up their reputation. A major problem with online scams is their reputation. There are several websites dedicated to exposing scams. Go to these and talk to people on online forums about paid surveys – if a website has previously fooled or tricked people, you will probably find it out from other people in the community.

Very Little Payout

Remember that not all scams are there to use your money and pay you nothing. To convince you, some of them will pay you but these will be extremely meager amounts that might convince you they are a legitimate company, while they make use of your personal information! Therefore, if a website is paying extremely low amounts, you should reconsider it. Make sure your time and effort is worth the money!

Unrealistic Reviews

Not all scams have bad reviews. Internet fraud has now become extremely smart, and one of its major problematic areas is that they even post good reviews to convince people. However, here is the trick: it might be difficult, but look for reviews that sound too monotonous or read as really unrealistic. You will usually be able to spot a company that has nearly the same reviews that sound fake.

Therefore, before you give out your personal information, even your email address to anyone, make sure that you look out for these 10 major problems in paid online surveys. They will, if executed correctly, keep you safe on the internet!