Money Making Scams You Should Avoid
BY READERS DIGEST
1st Jan 2015 Managing your Money
Get rich quick schemes are always going to be appealing to those looking to make money fast. After all, a bit of extra cash is always useful. However, in most cases, money-making schemes are rarely the answer that you are searching for. If it was that easy to make money fast, then everyone would be doing it! Here are some of the top scams that you should avoid:
Pyramid schemes
A pyramid scheme seems like a way of making fast money where you cannot lose. With a pyramid scheme, you will be asked to invest a small amount of money, which will be distributed to those above you. You then ask other people to join. These people will then be asked to invest the same amount of money, to be distributed to those above them, including you. The idea is that as more people join, you will enjoy a steady flow of income, set to grow and grow as more people invest. These scams come in many different forms, but all have the same overarching result - you will lose your money and never see a penny from the scheme.
Advance-fee scams
This scam is centuries old and was being run via mail or even in person before the internet was even around. However, it is much easier for scammers to target people via the internet as they can use a lot of email addresses at once. You will receive an email from someone who is asking for help in return for a reward. Often this will be someone who claims to be royalty or someone in a position of power. Alternatively, you may be contacted by someone who says that you have inherited a lot of money. The scam works by asking you to send an amount of money somewhere to help someone to get out of trouble or to release your funds. After you have sent this comparatively small amount of money, you will then be rewarded with a much larger sum of money. But this money will never come and you will simply lose the cash that you have already sent.
Internet survey scams
Although you are less likely to lose money in an internet survey scam, it is very unlikely that you will ever actually make money; the scam is simply a way for companies to get hold of your details. Many sites are available on the internet which offer money for filling out surveys; they often claim that you can make thousands of pounds per week just by filling out the survey. The truth is that no one is going to pay you this kind of money just to fill out a survey. All you are going to end up with is a multitude of junk emails, irritating phone calls and junk mail coming to your home, if you give these sites your personal details as asked.
