by Wayne Ramsey

Created on: March 24, 2007   Last Updated: May 12, 2007

Uncovering an internet scam is always better to do before you actually fall into one. While sometimes this can be more difficult to do, for the most part, you should be able to avoid most any scam online with relative ease. The important thing to remember is that you have to stay smart and think about what you are doing each time you log online.

1. If it says that you can get rich fast, be skeptical, most things that allow you to become rich, if they were easy, then everyone would be doing it, and the whole world would be rich. I'm sure you wouldn't have to read an advertisement telling you how to get rich, because people aren't generally going to volunteer a get rich scam to you if they weren't still trying to get rich themselves. Those that are rich, are probably going to look into a much more lucrative business. So, think about who would place the ad and why before you do anything. You also have to consider whether or not it is possible to get rich quick. Personally, I believe that you have to work for everything, regardless of what it is. Some things you might not have to work as hard for, but you still need to work for them. So, getting rich quick, just isn't something that i understand or will ever agree exists without winning a contest or lottery.

2. Look at the quality of the website. IF the website is made poorly then the odds are pretty likely that it was created to scam people. The site was built overnight by someone that really doesn't know much about web design. If someone was truly doing well, then they aren't going to require a crappy website, they could afford to pay for a high quality website to be developed on their behalf.

3. If it comes to you in a mail, just junk it. How often have you ever received anything good in your mailbox? If it's that good, then they wouldn't have to resort to spamming, as word of mouth would be their best marketing tool.

4. do your research. If you are curious about a company and it sounds legit, do a search for them. Ask around, see if anyone has heard of them. If you can't find any information about them, or if you read nothing but bad things, I would avoid them. But make sure that if you do read good things about them, that you check the source. That site might be owned by the same people that the scam you want to try was created by. This of course would allow them to have constantly good information because they control it. And don't ever believe only one source, get multiple sources.

5. Check with the Better Business Bureau for complaints. If they have complaints, the BBB will have tracked them. This is a great way to find out if a company has a variety of reported incidents against them and should be a great way to determine if you want to work with them or not.

6. Look for contact information. If they don't have contact information, then don't do whatever they want you to do. How can you trust someone or something that is unwilling to disclose where they are located or how to contact them? The reason they wouldn't have contact information is because it makes it more difficult to catch them once you realize you've been scammed.

Realistically there are countless ways in detecting a scam, but if you are smart and do your homework, you don't have to be the victim of one of these scams.

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