Wizard of the Websites
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How to Spot Advertising Scams on the Internet
In today’s world advertising on the Internet is a huge business that can yield positive returns for both people who sell advertisement and for people who look to buy advertising space. Unfortunately there are also people who HAVE found ways to manipulate the system and take advantage of the internet advertisement business through scams and false terms of conditions. Below you will find steps you can take to avoid these internet advertising scams and hopefully come out on top.
Terms and Conditions
Always read the "terms and conditions" before you accept or sign up for anything. If there are no "terms and conditions" listed or to be found, then ask for them. Doing this will help you greatly in the long run because many internet advertising scams you can sign up for will start to charge you after a period of time even though they advertise as "absolutely free". Usually it is free for the first few weeks or month, but after that they automatically bill you for their services.
Also be aware that most scams on the Internet will sell any personal information you give them to other companies and websites. This can become a great hassle for you due to all the spam and others scams that may be introduced to you through your email account and by phone calls. The selling or distributing of personal information will always be listed under their "Terms and Condition" or "Privacy Policy". If not then more or likely they are trying to hide something and you should dig deeper by making contact and asking how they handle that sort of information.
Get Rich Quick Scams
Stay away from advertisements that offer products or services as "get rich fast" or "secret to success" or "earn $100,000 a month doing nothing". These type of scams usually come in the form of having ordinary people refer other ordinary people to a website offering a product or service that got the seller involved in the first place. These get rich quick scams never work out and in the end, people who sign up for them usually have less money then what they started out with. The only person who is getting rich is the one who created the website originally because they have everyone else working under them. Just remember, If were so easy to become wealth o n the Internet, then everyone would already be doing it and there would be no need to advertise about it.
Do Your Research
Do a little research before committing to what an advertisement offers. Even if you do not think it's a scam, you should always double check by doing a simple Google search for the website name, product or service that is being offered. If it is a scam then unfortunately other people have already fallen for it and most of them will post about it, in detail, on the Internet. Also If you have already been scammed in the past I urge you, if you already have not, to report it to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. You can also post about it on the Internet in Forums and on Blogs dealing with scam topics.
Success Stories
Be careful if an advertisement comes with success quotes and posts from other people "just like you". Usually these people work for the company providing the product or service, or have some financial gain if you sign up for it. Advertisements on the Internet are also now using the "cookies" from your Internet browser to show quoted success stories by people from your area of living. This type of advertisement is also a scam because it is just pulling your location from the information provided in your Internet browser. The add then generates text that is designed to attract you due to you reading about someone else from your own town or city.
Another popular success story scam is found on forums and Blogs where people are commenting on the quality and performance about the product or service. Be careful, These types of posts may be a disguised as just one big sales pitch where multiple people are acting like satisfied customers. You should always try to feel them out by asking more detailed questions about what is being offered. If you keep getting the "run a round", then chances are, its a scam.
How to Report Internet Advertising Scams
If you are still not sure whether an advertisement is a scam or not after the steps above then you can always contact the National Advertising Division or the Federal Trade Commission by following the links below. You can also file a report with both agencies if you already know of an advertising scam or unfortunately been scammed in the past. Reporting these scams will greatly help other people not make the same mistake in the future. Thank you.
National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus
845 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(212) 705-0120
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
(202) 326-2222
Helpful Tips to Remember
