Data Entry Scams Exposed
I got into an argument the other day with a buddy of mine who is looking for a way to make some extra money. He had been looking around the internet in search of a reliable way to make a few extra bucks each month. After spending a few late nights searching he stumbled onto an idea he liked. It was a data entry service that claimed it would pay him to type simple information into a couple of fields. He could do this right from the comfort of his own home and he’d get paid every two weeks.
This immediately set off the alarms in my head. I’ve seen people fall for data entry scams before and I didn’t want to see it happen to my friend. As I tried to explain it to him he got very upset. He claimed I was trying to put down his idea because he hadn’t consulted me first. I strongly suspected he was making a mistake but to keep the peace I kept my mouth shut and wished him luck.
This morning he called to apologize. He told me he had been had and that he should have listened to me. I managed to fight the temptation to say “I told you so” and asked if I could write a short article about his experience. If you’ve never heard of data entry scams then let me explain how they work so you can avoid getting burned by them.
Most advertisements for data entry jobs lead you to believe you’ll be helping one or more companies enter data into a database or other computer system. When you see these ads you probably think its a form of outsourcing like a medical transcriptionist. All you have to do to start earning a steady income is send away for their information package (and pay a small fee).
But when you get the package you realize you’ve been misled. You actually signed up to be an affiliate of the data entry service itself. Your information packet instructs you to sign up for Google AdWords and place ads for their service (this is where the “data entry” comes in). When someone clicks on your link and signs up you get a commission.
Now this in itself is not wrong. There’s nothing wrong with affiliate marketing and you can make a lot of money doing it. But the scam is that this isn’t what you signed up for. Its blatant false advertising because they never told you:
1. You could have signed up to be their affiliate for free.
2. You’re not doing data entry at all. You’re purchasing advertisements.
3. You have to pay for those advertisements.
4. There’s no guarantee you’ll ever receive a single paycheck.
In my opinion these data entry scams are nothing more than a way to take advantage of people who are looking to make a few extra bucks in their spare time. A year or two ago these services were banned from Clickbank but I’ve seen them popping up with other payment processors here and there.
Buyer beware.
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I used to do a lot of data entry back in the day, but now it has definitely died off because everybody is trying to make easy money by getting over on people.
Donny Gambles last blog post..OnePoke.com : Social Networking Evolved
Thanks for stopping by Donny. There are legitimate opportunities to make money through data entry and you can usually find them on sites like elance.com which is a place for freelancers to bid for work. But if someone says you have to pay a fee just to find out how the opportunity works…watch out.
It’s a very said thing that people are doing such a horrible scams. We must try to inform more about this scams in order to lower the number of scammed people.
A friend of mine also got stung by this scam, adwords for newbies is a bad idea and this type of scam gives all money making opportunities a bad name.
Jason
Dam – I’d never heard of the things, but it sounds as if people are being hit hard.
I’ll just stick to adsense and site flipping for now
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One of my frd had started this work at home of doint data entry with 4 to 5 people staff working for him … after few months the company stopped paying and there were such problems occuring like such….
i don’t think data entry job is good one to rely on.
Man it makes my blood boil at the thought of this.. Got scammed sometime back when I first ventured into making money online..
Ben
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That way died years ago…I think about 5-6 years…
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hey Mike,
Would you let your friend know that I have a bridge for sale?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I’m a firm believer in if something sounds too good to be true, it is. If someone tells you that they can tell you how to make money but give them $25 first, I can tell you what they’ll tell you after you give the $25.
Find people to give you $25!
Sorry if I’m ranting… Steve Booth
With many money making offers, you have to look at whether it sounds too good to be true or not. 99% of the time, if its too good to be true, then it probably is fake.
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I know. Offers that pay out more than what you expect to get are things to look out for. And you’re right about scams making working at home/online sound bad. I do have friends who don’t believe in making money online (that can be a plus, though – at least a number off the competition)
It bothers me endlessly when people fall for this type of scam. I used to be a photographer and had to get out of the racket, mainly because it was too easy to separate pretty girls from their daddy’s money.
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Theres so many scams out there now n days because everyone wants to make money so quickly they don’t even look to see if its legit or not. Its so sad to see people get scammed by these scammers
There are lots of scams out there and apparently the authorities can’t do mush about he criminals if they are based overseas.
Yes there are lots of data entry jobs who offers to work from home but initially they wants to register with particular amount and once you joined then don’t think you will get any kind of paychecks.