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!

Day 2.2: What's in A Scam?

Ok, if you've been on the Internet at all in your life, you've probably experienced a scam: an unbelievably good offer that turns out to be worthless. If you're smart, you know not to click on the links they offer or to believe anything they say. That's how I was… until I got curious. How do scams work? Is there any truth to their offer, and if so, what is it? Why don't I want to bother with them?

It might interest you to know that when I was investigating scams, I really did win a functioning iPad 2 for twenty-four cents. So why did my family bother paying hundreds of dollars to get me another one six months later? I'll get to that in a moment. For now, let's take a look at the scamming mentalities, and hopefully this will help you to know what to look out for in the future.

1. Congratulations! You won! Every time I hear that annoying message on my computer, I mute the sound and try to ignore the dramatically shaking or blinking popup saying I'm someone special. But what would happen if I clicked the link? (Note: I have a Mac for a computer, and even though Macs are not entirely virus free, I almost always feel safe when online. If you have a PC, please don't try this at home!). Clicking the link takes you to a page congratulating you and asking you what you want as a prize. A usual prize will be an iPhone, iPad or $1000 Walmart gift card. If you're still gullible enough to stay with it, you can click on the link of whatever you like. This takes you to a page asking for your mailing address and further specifications as to what you want. After breezing through and agreeing to the terms of use and privacy notice, you can take things one step further before your prize is officially mailed to you. And then the trouble begins. You are brought to a page of offers, mostly to subscribe to and buy things or get quotes--car insurance, Netflix, coupon deals, soap, whatever. In case you feel overwhelmed, you don't need to worry here--you only need to do one before moving on and getting your prize! After scrounging around, I managed to find one that was free. Mission accomplished. Then they take you to the next page, a page similar but with more offers. You need to complete about six of these. And after that there's another page where you need to complete about twelve offers or maybe more. Ouch. That isn't worth it. One site that I went to was much nicer about the whole offer deal--if you wanted, you could do only one offer yourself and then get nine of your friends to sign up and do one offer each. Easy peasy! I could practically hear the prize arriving at my door. I was in a college dorm at the time I found this, and right away went around to everyone in the building, getting people's contact info. I got about twelve people to say that they would positively do this for me, and a few more who agreed to help out if needed. I had it made. Unfortunately, out of everyone who promised to join me, only three people went on the site. Not one of them completed an offer. Ouch. In the end, it was impossible. Maybe the claims on YouTube are true once in a while, but don't bet on it.

2. Order now and save big! This is a common scam on TV, but it's also common for online stores such as Amazon. The price is right, and much lower than you can find anywhere else. The website is one you trust and use regularly. How could there be a scam? Hint: it's in the shipping and handling. Every time I compare the regular price of an item on Amazon with a cheaper price from one of its suppliers, the shipping and handling skyrocket for the cheaper one. If anything, the items are the same price, adding the shipping and handling to the cost of the item. So before you complete your offer, please be sure to check these prices and make sure you really are getting a bargain!

3. How I won an iPad 2 for 24¢. Let's face it, this is what you've been wondering. Something works? You can actually get something good that cheap? This scam has been growing in popularity recently, and it's so convincing that my fiance and I both fell for it separately. Penny bidding. I know I've mentioned it before, but it's so convincing that it needs a separate look. What is penny bidding? It's a form of online bidding where you can bid only one cent at a time. When the timer's running low, you can keep it going by adding a cent more to your bid and outbidding everyone else. In the end, you get an unbelievable price for a fantastic product! When you first join, many sites will give you a good number of free bids to start out with. Even though you have to pay for later bids, if you wanted to get one thing and only one thing, why not sign up? When I joined one such site, I was thrilled to see an iPad 2 going for only two or three cents. Now that's something a poor college student can afford! I programmed my account to automatically outbid everyone else and use up almost all of my bids if necessary. Several minutes later, I got an exciting e-mail. I had one the iPad 2, and it had cost me only twenty-four cents. All I had to do was claim it, and it was mine! Oh, and one other thing. I'd have to pay an extra $700 to actually buy the iPad and pay for shipping and handling. Yes, I won it for twenty-four cents, but I'd still have to buy it. And that was the case for everything on the site. Win it for a low price, but then buy it for a high price. Not cool! Obviously, that was one purchase I'd never make. Now, not all penny bids are the same. One that I came across more recently didn't do any of that beating around the bush. If you win something for a few pennies, it's yours. I was stunned at first, checking all of the rules and not finding anything clever or sneaky to wheedle out my money. Then I found out. It was the bids. Each penny bid cost about fifty cents. There were no free bids, and you had to buy bids in packages. After winning an auction, you would pay about the exact same price that you would if you bought it in a more conventional manner.

However you go about Internet shopping, you need to realize that nothing comes cheap. Read the fine print, find the hook, and then decide if it's something you're willing to go through with. You'll find that the best bet is conventional sellers, like Amazon and Ebay.