Beware The "Prelaunch" Specials: The Newest Scams

I've been reflecting on my online progress over the past few years, and naturally some patterns have stood out. There is one in particular that I fell for twice, and lately I've been seeing ads for several similar types of programs. What eye-catcher is this? The all-new, completely revolutionary earning system... _________ now in prelaunch! Join now and be on top of everyone else when it starts!

Yeah, it's tempting. That's why I fell for it twice. You see a short video or read some info on this brand new program, and it looks remarkable. On top of that, you can have the "privilege" of being one of the original members, practically one of the founders.... It's too good to be true. And yeah, it is.

So what's wrong with joining a pre-launch? Isn't everything brand new at some point or another? Every trend has to start somewhere. Well, yes. But unless you were seriously a founding member of Google or Amazon, you've probably noticed that you've really never been involved with the beginning of a trend. Trends start with a very small group of people, often only one person, who has a great idea and who gets it starting, eventually making it public. There is no in-between. Either it's in development or it's already out, and if it's something you can already join... it's out. You're not one of the first; you're one of the many.

Rippln was my biggest mistake in this area. I joined Rippln just over a year ago and was, as I remember, very excited about this new social network. I sent Facebook messages to people telling them about it (sorry to any of you who are reading this!) and chatted with the other members about how great this was going to be. Apparently, people were signing up on the pre-launch left and right, and it was no wonder: this was going to be a social network that pays you! But, as the days to the official "launch" drew nearer, Rippln started to change. It wasn't a friendly new social networking site... it was an expensive pyramid scheme. They began to email me, asking for hundreds of dollars so that I would attend special "training" webinars, and the fun games that they promised were just gimmicks in the end. There wasn't even a decent product with Rippln, just a promise and a feeling of being a part of the beginning of something big. No one joined under me, but as I saw the true nature of the scam, I was relieved and decided to quit before they took any of my money away. My question was, "Since when have social network media required hundreds of dollars just for basic training?" Yeah, I failed big.

My Perfect Inter.net was another pre-launch that I joined. It was not an all-out scam like Rippln, but the quality fell very far from the ideals that it projected beforehand. It was supposed to be the perfect "Internet," with everything you wanted all on one page--emails, games, sales from your favorite stores, latest messages and updates from friends, and news. Oh, and it also pays you to refer people. I joined and made an account when it was still "WazzUb" and didn't think much about it. After it officially launched I visited my page, looked around and played a game of solitaire, and then left. I've only returned two or three times since then. Yeah, it has what it was promising... but the layout is awful! Brightly flashing colors, more ads than features, and an overall headache of an experience was what I found.

Moral of the story? Don't fall for the pre-launch. It's an illusion, a way for people to profit off of you without having to give you anything at all right away. If you're seeing ads for it, it's too late to be one of the first members anyway. Look for something established and proven, something that has both positive reviews and positive results. Clixsense, Amazon Turk and SFI may not be fast earning opportunities and they may not look exciting compared to others, but they have a track record.

Day 27: Scam Alert!

Yes, I took a day off yesterday--largely because I had nothing new to report and also I had better and more productive ways to spend my time. But today's different: last night and earlier today I decided to investigate the site I was telling you about (Richgo PTR) that was hinting at a large paycheck very soon. I've been suspicious of it from the start, which is why I never overly encouraged any of you to sign up. The English was horrible, there were parts of the site that seemed less than professional, there weren't any forums to see what other people were saying, and I couldn't figure out how they could afford to pay $150 per click.

Be that as it may, I've been optimistic as ever and put a lot of effort into making the required amount of money to withdraw. Today I reached that amount and requested payment, but let's go back to my research itself. I looked up reviews of the site in several places. It's been listed as a scam on several different sites (never a good sign), though it is also a secure site--no viruses or x-rated content that will suddenly leap out at you.

What did people say themselves? Most people were asking whether or not it was a scam, and some people said it was. The best odds I could find were that they pay half their people. Some claim to know people who have gotten incomes, or that they got money themselves once or twice before suddenly being cut off (usually after being upgraded). There were some horror stories of people being told that they had to upgrade before they could take money out, and then after they upgraded they kept getting the same message. Fortunately, that didn't happen to me.

My payout request went very smoothly and simply. RichgoPTR did not ask me--or even suggest to me--that I upgrade, nor did they make the payout requesting process any more confusing or hassling than it needed to be. Just a few clicks and that was it! Now, the question is: will I get paid? According to the site, free members should get paid within thirty days if the member remains active in the site and "in good standing." I've heard that they push it out to four months (though so far they haven't done that) but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They did say that they would be in touch with me shortly, hopefully within the thirty days. If in a month they haven't contacted me or anything, I'll write them and see what's up.

Ten thousand dollars would be awesome, even if I didn't get it till fall. It seems that most of the people complaining about it being a scam are the people who paid $166 for an upgrade, so I'm hoping that that's the ploy--they take your money and run. Sure enough, I had been planning on buying an upgrade first thing if I got paid, but now I wouldn't dare.

My verdict? RichgoPTR is almost certainly a scam. At best, it's unreliable and unstable, and you can only hope that the instability works out in your favor. Don't invest a penny in it, and don't assume that the money you earn is anything more than numbers on a screen.

In the meantime, Clixsense still reigns as the absolute best PTC. I've gotten two checks from it already, and I highly recommend it to any of you who are thinking about generating an online income. But my search isn't over! I still have three days remaining in this study, after which I'll write down everything I've learned and every conclusion I've come to. Follow me on Twitter for more tips and updates, and beware of scams!