Scams pose a very serious problem in the paid to click business. Unfortunately for every honest PTC there is another 10 scam sites to match it. However, if you know what to look for in a PTC site to determine whether or not the site is trustworthy, you can save yourself from a majority of scams. It will always be harder to find a trusted site, furthermore a trusted site that remains trusted no matter how many members they take on. Tons of “PTC” sites originally do not start out as scams, but without having efficient staff or planning in the beginning by the owner, as the user base increases, the amount of time to get paid can become stretched more and more hence the reason so many sites that were once “trusted” go under and delay payments for ridiculous amounts of time. Webmasters could have run out of money or started a program without having any money in the bank then being unable to pay because of a unstable earning script.

On the other hand, most scams start out as a scam in the beginning. This quick article is aimed to help you better evaluate sites you plan to join and/or invest in. I have compiled a short list of things anyone should observe and think about as well as comparing it to the site or sites in question. Please keep in mind even though this article does a wide variety, there still is no sure fire way to prove without a reason of a doubt you can absolutely trust a site, anything can happen.

Things to watch for when avoiding scams -

- Bad Communication
This is by far one of the MOST important things when it comes to choosing a site fit for an investment or extended use. If a site has very few and far between updates and general site news, the site isn’t a great idea. If the site has an admin too lazy to keep his customers up to date on a service he/she offers, its safe to assume the admin is too lazy to care about making your payments on time. On the same note of communication, it is best to avoid sites with admins that are not very fluent in English. Unless of course the site is from your respected country and speaks your native language or some other language you are very fluent in. A lot of mix-ups happen when no one speaks the same language.

- Sites Without Forums
It may seem a bit flimsy, but sites that do not offer forums or some form of live chat for customers to communicate both with the site and staff and other members, could prove to be a scam. The reason for this is simple, any honest business wants to hear from their customers, whether it be praise or problems. Without feedback the business essentially shows it does not care by refusing feedback or just not offering an area for sharing feedback or payment proofs, its safe to say the admin does not really care or does not want customers to communicate to the public or other members about poor services.

- Sites Of Past Scammers
It’s common sense to most, but some people can build credibility on how they have changed or were falsely accused. No matter how much a scammer can claim they have changed their ways, there really is no way to actually know for sure, after all scammers will tell you exactly what you need to here to fork over your money. Joining a site under the ownership or management of person or persons associated with past scams is a very poor idea, especially when it comes to investments, this should always be avoided.

- Sites Not Customized
The design and layout of any site will let you know a lot about the webmaster that maintains the site. Sites that have the typical “cookie cutter” bux theme or another words look just like every other bux site, you should not join. When a webmaster does not make the effort for a custom designed site, this can show you two of very important things, one the webmaster does not care in taking any extra steps in improving his/her PTC site and most likely won’t make the effort to pay his/her customers. The other thing is the web,aster is new the the script and safe to say new to the PTC business, another red flag. You don’t want an inexperienced person handling YOUR money.

- Sites That Break The Law
Make sure the site you’re using is legal, another line of sites exist, which label themselves “pay to click” or “pay to surf”. These sites are usually several scammers that bunch together and trade clicks or pay for clicks on paid advertisements like Google Adsense, this is electronic fraud and regardless of what it said on the site or any of that, you can still be charged criminally and civilly. Stay away!

- Sites That Are Always Down or “under maintenance”
It’s understandable for a site to go under maintenance for new features, backups, take your pick, it happens when you own a site. However, it does get a little suspicious when a site is down for days or even weeks on end all while holding onto your “funds”. Especially when the staff does not send out any emails or make any effort to announce to their customers what is going on. This is very bad practice for business for both the member and the owner, making it a little sketchy.

- Sites that have many typos
A webmaster that does not take his site serious enough to spell check, especially when it comes to business and other peoples money, then he/she obviously doesn’t need to be taken seriously. What if your payout gets misspelled?

- Do Your Own Homework
The best thing you can ever do for yourself is your own homework when it comes to anything. Check a sites forums, check blogs, do searches, find as much information as you can, there can never be enough information when it involves your income. Seeing positive feedback and other users results with a site or program can give you a little insight on what you can expect. However, just because a site pays out and has proofs, does not prove anything. A lot of scam sites payout plenty within the first month or two, then its time for the pick-up and run routine. My own personal rule is to watch a site I am considering participating in especially if its new for 1-2 months before making any commitments.

- Pay Before You Get Paid
You should always avoid a site that requires you to upgrade or pay a fee just to cashout your funds. Programs offering this type of business setup don’t last long, so no matter how much you invest, you won’t be able to cash it out when the program can’t make it back in premium purchases.

- ALWAYS Signup With Different Info
When you’re joining any ptc, you should never use the same password as you do with other ptc programs, your email account, payment process or any other account. Some fraudulent sites use registering as a method of harvesting passwords then fish for matching passwords from that list to your other accounts and steal your earnings among other things.

Article Author: MuneyMan 165 Views since Wednesday August 13 2008