In this installment of making money online…the real truth…I want to discuss scams. This is a term that gets tossed around quite a bit, and while there are a lot of scams out there, not everything is a scam just because it’s not working for you. So the first thing we’re going to do is set the record straight on what a scam isn’t and then explain what a scam is. Hopefully, this will clear up all the confusion so that people don’t go tossing this term around like a volleyball.

Here is what a scam ISN’T. Let’s say you decide to sign up with a company like Avon. I’m sure you’ve all heard of them. Remember the old commercials from the 60s, Avon calling? This is where you’d get some Avon rep ringing your doorbell to try to sell you cosmetics. Well, just because you signed up with Avon to sell these cosmetics and didn’t make any money doing it, doesn’t make it a scam. It just means that you’re a lousy salesperson. See, anything related to sales is not a guarantee because you can’t make people buy things. That doesn’t mean all sales opportunities are scams.

A scam is literally when you join a company, the company promises to pay you for reached certain goal, whether it be sales, sign ups or whatever, and then when you reach your payout threshold and put in for payment, you don’t get paid. You then complain to the company, maybe even to the BBB or some other agency and then suddenly the company disappears. That is a scam. That is the only true definition of a scam…when a promise made to you is not fulfilled.

Here’s a quick example of a scam from years ago…paid to read emails. The scam worked like this. The company, after taking your sign up fee, promised to pay you a certain amount of money for each email you would read. After you’d reach the payout threshold, which was usually pretty high, you’d put in for your payment and never get it. Eventually, you’d put in your complaints until eventually enough people complained and the site shut down and the owner runs off to the islands with your money. This was very common about five years ago.

This is why scams are so hard to spot. They look legit until you don’t get paid. In our next installment, I’m going to go over some ways that you can spot potential scams. You’ll want to catch this one.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to see more of this series? Watch my REAL Truth Videos at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/downloads.html and get the REAL truth about making money on the Internet.