LESSON #5: How to Avoid Scams

By | June 16, 2008

In the previous lesson we talked about a bunch of different ways of making money online. If you go out looking for those money making opportunities, you’ll find that there are literally thousands of them.

The question now is… How do I separate the real opportunities from the scams? Because we all know that the internet is full of scams, right? So lets talk about it…

(Watch this video…)

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Main points:

  • I believe that most business opportunities are not scams. But just because something isn’t illegal, that doesn’t mean its something you want to get into.

  • There ARE a lot of scammers out there though. There is no limit to how far a con artist will go to take your money. So you need to be on your guard.

  • If it sounds too good to be true, it often is.

  • Be an educated consumer. (here is a place to start: the FTC)

  • Don’t buy ANY business opportunities. (unless you honestly know what you’re doing)

    Action steps:

    1)If you ARE knowledgeable about scams, don’t let down your guard.

    2) If you don’t know about the most common Internet scams, do some research and become an educated consumer

    3) Put your wallet away

    Soon it will be time to choose one business model and focus on it, but before we can do that, we need to talk about two different pathways… and only you can decide which one is best for you. We’ll talk about those two pathways in the next lesson.

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

    Have a great day!

  • 365 thoughts on “LESSON #5: How to Avoid Scams

    1. KiwiChris

      Kia ora Eric and others…. Ive been battling online for awhile now and it’s good to see that we agree on so many points,it’s great to see that i started on the right track, so far my only problem is your great lessons dont come fast enough 4me 🙂 lol look 4ward to your insight ……All the way from Wee NZ ….L8r

      Reply
    2. Nico Pisani

      Hey Eric! Happy Father’s Day, although it looks like you worked right through it. Great job BTW in producing such quality content:)

      Hey Folks..The underground support forum is growing, or if you would just like to read a detailed text summary and review of each one of Eric’s lessons click on my name above to link to the forum… BUT FIRST LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR ERIC HERE at ERIC’S TIPS!

      Thanks Again Eric for your continued mentoring:) Peace y Pura Vida! Nico

      Reply
    3. Bob from Attract-a-Profitable-Home-Business.com

      Take it from someone who has lost THOUSANDS jumping from one “opportunity” to the next. Either put your wallet away (as Eric suggestes), OR RESEARCH an opportunity before you put money into it. Often you’ll find reviews on the search engines that will help you make the decision not to get your wallet out at all, easy!

      Reply
    4. Kay

      Thanks Eric,

      Your no nonsense way of reviewing information (even if it is already known) is refreshing and establishes that level of trust that brings people back again and again… I should know. I just watched Lesson 5 after consuming the last 4 lessons in just one sitting!

      I can’t wait for the rest…

      Thank you for laying the ground work for a brighter future (not only for myself but for everyone watching these videos).

      Kay
      the Marriage Mistress
      http://www.MarriageMistress.com

      Reply
    5. Neal

      I’ve been looking at internet businesses for about 6 month and came to conclusions that are exactly what you are talking about in the lessons so far. I particularly like how you explained the difference between a website, online job and online business. I have always had the business view which is why I am at the paralysis analysis stage. When I analyze what I’ve bought from a cost/benefit perspective, most just don’t make sense. I’ve spent some money and have about $50 to show for it, however, the education I’ve received from a few programs (including yours) has been well worth the money. Unfortunately I spent money on about 6 others that were pretty worthless or incomplete. I am so glad I started receiving Eric’s Tips emails. They took me to this site and lessons which will accelerate the learning and the price is right.:) I have no problem waiting until we get further down the road on the lessons before kicking things off. Thanks for your generosity and knowledge. It is greatly appreciated and I believe you will be rewarded significantly for your honesty and integrity. Keep up the good work!

      Reply
    6. Carol Smith

      Thanks for one important things you are doing: the major points and notes beneath the video. I am not an auditory learner and really don’t like videos in most cases.

      Second point is that since I live in rural USA, I have to rely on satellite for high speed internet access. And, believe it or not, we have limited access.

      Videos are greedy little things and tend to eat up my bandwidth. Thanks for letting your subscriber have an alternative way to gain the knowledge.

      Carol Smith

      Reply
    7. Lee Grey

      Web sites that deal with making money online are some of the most risky on all the Internet. Not that every web site is fraudulent, but you’ll find a very high concentration in this arena, because greed makes people do foolish things.

      One very important piece of advice is to be *very* careful about who you give your email address to. I’ve seen many, many email addresses of mine abused and misused, including being sold or stolen, unsubscribe requests ignored, sharing without my permission, etc.

      I’ve been able to spot and stop such abuses by using domain-specific email addresses, meaning that I provide a unique email address that is specific to the web site that I’m registering at. This has allowed me to sign up without worry, because I then have the ability to stop any unethical emailing myself, without having to hope that the web site owner or the spam filters will do the right thing.

      Normally, it would be impractical to create a new email account for each web site at which you register. However, I use a system called Maileable, which makes it very easy to manage countless email addresses without having to jump through hoops.

      Reply
    8. Sonya

      Great to see another fellow kiwi!!! Often feels that since we are not in the States/UK that we a re a long way from the action.

      Eric – wonderful tips. Agree with Chris that the lessons don’t seem to be coming fast enough – but wait till next week when I’m back at work and will have heaps to catch up. Loving this all Eric. Thanks all the way from New Zealand!!!

      Reply
    9. Ron B.

      Another informative lesson. Just kicking back and waiting for what is to come. I guess I have been doing this way too long. I guess that we just need to remember that there is a real business out there for some of us.

      Reply
    10. Fauzi

      Hi Erics,

      Your lesson’s today is the core of the Internet Business marketing that we need to be aware of. I’m very afraid to here that, and I hope there will no more scammers around anymore, just to steal somebody’s wealth from the wallet.

      Common on,apply Erics tip wisely,equip youself
      with fruitful knowledge especially about scams activities.

      I think after this I’ve to go to forum to study about the fraudulent scammers. Get some hints to avoid scammers. Thank Erics, for giving tips about scammers.

      Reply
    11. Geert de Vries

      Hi Sonya, i Know how it is to do business in Kiwiland as i live here now for 4 years.
      It’s like david versus Goliath.

      Keep your hopes up and i keep an eye on other Kwi’s and dutchmen. (I’m Dutch)

      Reply
    12. Geert de Vries

      hey Buddy, First lesson is that it’s preferable to keep receipts from stuff you buy of the net. If you got the feeling that they are useless for your purpose you may ask for a full refund. Most sites do that within 30 days, the better ones do it for 3 months or 90 days. I’ve even seen some marketeers they offer a full year money back.
      I know it’s hard to follow up on some of these sites, but it might save you at least a coupple of bucks.

      Reply
    13. Steve

      HiSonya & Eric. Hey guys dont feel lonely over there in NZ.Im in UK and 60% of all my Business (software)is done in NZ.So hey were watching you guys over there.

      Reply
    14. Sujeet K Singh

      hey eric, your lessons are great. This is the first thing I look for in my inbox. I have unsubcribed all others, now i realize i just used to waste my time reading them.
      Thanks you so much.

      Reply
    15. Edward Han

      Yes. I do agree that there are scammers as I too encountered them before. After that, I am more careful to select what I am investing. Your tips are indeed good for everyone to open their eyes and be alert.

      Edward Han
      http://www.yaintech.com

      Reply
    16. Bryan Hee

      We need to be “inteligence” and “smart” internet savvy user. Don’t rush to “quick rich scheme”. Internet business is not “get rich scheme”. You need to put a lot of effort to be financial freedom from the internet business.

      It’s sound to be true for internet business opportunities that saying you can get rich overnight by doing nothing!

      Become an educated consumer you should do some research in forum, search engine and blogs before make any decision to buy any stuff in the internet.

      The advice :

      Don’t “Greedy” to avoid falling into the “Trap” of the “bait” that trying to scam you.

      To your success
      Bryan Hee
      Secrets of Work From Home Opportunities
      http://workfromhomereport.pinurl.com

      Reply
    17. Anna

      Hope that after watching your video,the internet user will become more educated and savvy.

      And of course the Online Scam Rate will be “drop” drastically! 🙂

      Anna
      Free Website Software-It’s not Scam :))
      http://webbuildesoftware.pinurl.com

      Reply
    18. Israel Camareno

      Hi Eric thanks for your lessons, I know they will be a lot usefull for most people. I can’t wait for the real deal. Id being doing some promo as an affilliate for others products in order to harvest some comissions. Im learning that this is hard to master, just input “work from home” in a search engine and I got back 5 billion sites ???I figure out how somebody will se my add with such a saturated market. saturated.

      Reply
    19. proson

      as long as there are humans, there are always scammers. To avoid, probably you have to research and research before you buy any business opportunities or look into it.

      Reply
    20. Si

      What do you think about program of Data imput on the internet for difference company.

      Reply
    21. Heidi Ross

      Fauzi, Unfortunately the scammers will not go away anythime soon. It would be so nice if there was a way to get rid of them but there isn’t. The only way to fight back against scammers is for more people to become educated about what to look for etc.

      Eric, you are doing a great job. Keep it up. Even though you are covering subjects I already know I still enjoy watching your videos. 🙂

      Heidi

      Reply
    22. Gus. D

      Hi Eric:
      Hope you are having a good day. I am about to read lesson #5. You are truely an inspiration. Your tips really help weed out the good from the bad and I Thank you for that.I am looking forward to your tips.
      Have a great day Eric,
      Gus

      Reply
    23. Karen

      So true, Eric, many of the so called SCAMS aren’t really scams, but are presented with too much hyped testimonies and promises that they are sure to disappoint.

      Marketers should be honest about their offers, but so many OVERPROMISE.

      It’s SAD how many people fall for an offer to to “get rich quick online working a few hours a day” – but that is part of too many sales pitches. And that’s the real shame.

      Reply
    24. Hewitt

      My reference for SCAMS: “IF I do not get what I am told – is it possible to contact the people that make the promise”?

      If the answer is no, I do not deal with the service. If they give me an E-mail or phone number and it does not get back to them before I buy, most likely it is a scam.

      If it gets back to them, I ask for information so I can check through BBB or other Orgaizations.

      Reply
    25. Willie

      This is awsome Eric. I love your straight-forward style. Unfortunately old habits are hard to break. After being scammed so many times (thousands of dollars times) I keep looking for the let-down. I will continue until you prove me wrong.

      Reply
    26. Philip

      Hello to all fellow kiwis on Erics site. My comment- Geert is that some of these refund guarantees are scams too! In some cases they will not honour their word to give you a refund. I asked for a refund From Plimus.com because they wanted me to sign and apply for- an American Tax form.

      Take note all Kiwis- you do not have to do this you are NZ citizens and exempt! this is for US Citizens only and people who are US based- and US based companies, registered in the US and actually operating in America.
      I told them that It was taking to long to resolve also the product was not what I expected. This tax glitch also meant I could not work online filling out Google
      Adwords ads for big companies as a job.

      After 4 – 5 approaches for a refund from Plimus.com They replied that because I had not contacted them for a long time they had resolved the issue for me- no refund. I wrote countless tickets and I noticed that there refund ticket system was not operational (or down) I managed to get a message through to them. (6 in total) and their claims I did not reply to them is BS.

      Here is the last email I sent (no 6) I was annoyed to say the least.

      to support@digitaldevelopmentllc.com
      date Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:31 PM
      subject Your refund Comments forms are faulty.

      from Philip Randall
      to support@digitaldevelopmentllc.com
      date Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:31 PM
      subject Your refund Comments forms are faulty

      They replied and gave me a scathing rebuke for using their support@digitaldevelopmentllc.com ticket/refund system? (I replied to that even)

      Reply
      Philip Randall ORDER REFERENCE # 29346138 Plimus Account ID:16855798 Unfortunately I am forced to use this forum rather than the proper channels for refunds because the system is down. I have sent numerous emails to Plimus and they were never actioned. It is in need of repair. And for the record I still want my money refunded. Philip Randall

      As I pointed out earlier they said I did not reply so they resolved the problem for me- no refund! Complete and utter rubbish. They kept side stepping the issue. I promised them I would make it public.

      Funnily enough, it was after I sent them this email that their ticket refund system went faulty on me ha! So be warned, DO NOT deal with Plimus.com and or digitaldevelopmentllc.com

      Stratplayer1

      Reply
    27. Katheen

      Being a “newbie” to making money on the intetnet, I’ve only spent about $600 so far on different.

      As Eric mentioned in lesson five, none of them seemed to offer all the information I needed to get a business up and running. And although I haven’t purchased anything too pricey yet, some of the internet offers I looked at were $1000 – $3000 per product.

      I am so relieved to hear Eric say – put your wallet away! I’ll gladly do that!

      Thank you, Eric, for helping out us newbies!

      Kathleen

      Reply
    28. eric

      hey eric, thanks alot for the tips and everything to make an online business..been struggling for some time to get a business started but getting stuck here and there…your work here has given me inspiration in the right direction and i salute you for that…learning as we move along i can’t wait for the next lesson…lol …cheers …thanx for helping us newbies,
      eric

      Reply
    29. Sally

      Hello Eric!
      This is great information! I am loving it! Can you send more lessons in a day? Some of us may want to go faster. Thanks!

      Reply
    30. Tim

      From: Timothy Hansen [mailto:concepts4u@hotmail.com]
      Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 6:02 PM
      To: Eric’s Tips
      Subject: RE: 18 ways to make money online! (LESSON #4)

      Hi Eric,

      I have to say lesson 4 is definetly a great one! However since you’ve been down this path I was wondering if you
      could elaborate on some of the methods you mentioned.

      Not to long ago I was downsized out of a tech job(blessing in disguise) and am looking to develop a Internet Marketing&Advertising
      biz to the brick and mortar community..see my blog site http://www.timothyhansen.com look under pages where it says ebiz consulting.

      Going well so far and I’ve actually signed 3 clients within a one month period, however here is my question to you

      Since I’m a single dad with two kids fulltime and need to control my time what I’m trying to accomplish is keeping some of the basic bills paid as a freelancer while building up my clientele

      My plan is to work as a Freelancer or paid blogger on a project basis and my skill set focuses more on “Monetizing a company website or blog so owners can develop other income streams.. From what I’ve seen on most Freelance sites,,jobs there typically seem to focus more on either Technical or Writing projects.. I really haven’t seen to many that cater to Sales&Marketing or Advertising. Do you know of any Freelance sites that have more of a focus in this skill set.

      From what I’ve seen on the paid blogging sites, it seems the income is very small for the work involved and I’ve actually contacted some pay for review blog sites and never heard back from them, so I’m not very confident in this income stream.

      I’ve bought products from you before (affiliate video brander) and both your advice and Michael Nicohlas’s have never steered me wrong in the past and you both seem very geniune and down to earth.

      Any thoughts are respected and appreciated

      Sincererly

      Tim Hansen

      Reply
    31. Learn Acoustic Guitar Online

      And I’m sure no one has bought a product because the price is going up or won’t be available tomorrow or after a certain number sells!
      Or can’t really use it now, but will get it for later because it sounds soooo good.

      Ted

      Reply
    32. mohd ariff

      That’s true, we called them ‘ROBNET’ Online. Business. Your points is good to be cautious.

      Ths, regards.
      Mohd

      Reply
    33. Norman

      Hey Eric thanks again for a great lesson. I have had my fair share of being scammed in the past. I look forward to the many more lessons from you. Keep up the great work!

      Reply
    34. Eric Post author

      Good points… I’ve found that my own hastiness and greed typically play a role whenever I get scammed or make a purchase I regret.

      Reply
    35. Eric Post author

      Most of the ones you see are not really “data input jobs”. They make it look like a work from home job, but they are just selling information about how to do PPC affiliate marketing… usually with the overused clickbank/Adwords combo.

      Reply
    36. Eric Post author

      Thanks! Actually I’m releasing the lessons as I make them. So you’re getting them as fast as I can…

      Reply
    37. Eric Post author

      Tim- I’m not too familiar with which freelancer sites are best for that particular type of work, but the one that comes to mind is http://www.guru.com They have a business consulting category.

      If you are using your current site as the main “store front” of your consulting and paid blogger business, I would consider removing all the Adsense ads. When I visited it, it felt a bit like a “typical” made-for-adsense blog. Because you have to think about what your main objective of the site is. Is it to make money from Adsense, or is it to portray a good image to help you get jobs? The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but it doesn’t seem to be giving the best impression in its current state.

      Based on what you’re doing, you may also do well to consider offline marketing. There are plenty of brick and mortar businesses wherever you live, who could use help getting online and/or imporving their online marketing efforts. The key there is to become confident as an internet marketing EXPERT, and then you can approach local businesses and easily close deals by demonstrating how you can improve their bottom line.

      Also–as you know– the real money is going to be in your consulting/marketing business, NOT from freelance jobs. So as much as possible I would recommend focusing your energy to get more clients so you can get there faster and not worry about needing extra $$ from freelancing.

      Reply
    38. Neal

      Thanks Geert. I always print out my receipts and I did get one refund, after requesting it 3x and threatening to report them to Paypal. My problem with some of these things is I just cannot bring myself to knowingly rip anyone off. If I don’t see value in a product or service, I am not going to sell it. Even though I am in techical sales support (for hardware) I will not recommend something I do not feel will at the very least meet the minimum needs of my customers, if not provide for future needs. I will not compromise on that for my online business. As such, I am grateful Eric seems straight up and has the same ethics I have. To everyone who reads this, we don’t need any more scam artists to sully the online business reputation. Be honest and do your best to provide a great product or service and we’ll all profit from it. Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions

      Reply
    39. Barbara Hentschke

      My husband bought a course on trial from a well known marketer. He said he would not take any money out of his bank for 30 days. My husband decided it was not for him. I cancelled it after 3 weeks. He had taken $97 out and 2 days after I had cancelled took another $108.95 out of my account and then another $97 5 days later. After 3 letters he refunded 2x$97 but not the other $108.95. I have written to him through his support at least a dozen times and he has never replied to any of my letters nor has he refunded or explained the amount taken. Has anyone any ideas what I should do or is it a total loss. His name is Charles Ryder.

      Reply
    40. George

      Hi Eric,lesson #5 is really true I have been scammed and now I am very skeptic in what I buy.please continue to send these lessons.Thanks Eric.

      P.S. I have sent you a mail have you received It?

      Reply
    41. Mary

      I have no problem throwing a name out there…..Russell Brunson! Talk about WAY overpromising. As an affiliate, maybe. But DO NOT buy any type of coaching program through dotcomsecrets.com. I’m not being hateful or trying to get revenge. I just don’t want other people making the same $2000 mistake I made. Besides, Eric is providing the same information, in a much more personal way…for free!!!

      Reply

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