It’s two in the morning and Mary has been shopping Internet sites for just the right Christmas gift for her Grandmother. At one site she happens to get a “pop-under” message about a great way to make tons of money working at home in her spare time. The ad is slick and the money is enticing. Mary enters her name and email onto the squeeze page and is redirected to the “one-time-offer” page. She buys it. Mary will soon realize she has just become another statistic in the Internet affiliate marketing scam.
This scenario happens all to frequently these days as Internet affiliate marketing grows. With this growth come scammers and criminals looking to make a dishonest dollar from an unsuspecting public. But, what can be done about it? Mary could have used a little knowledge about affiliate marketing before she clicked the “buy now” button. This article is going to discuss four ways of spotting affiliate marketing scams by looking at their contact person, web address, email address, how they conduct business, and misleading promises.
1. Contact Person or Agent
Is there a contact number or toll-free number listed? Is there an agent or someone to contact should anything go awry? If there is not any such information, this is more than likely a rip-off artist trying to separate someone from his or her hard earned dollars. A legitimate company will welcome contact with their affiliates and go out of their way to make sure they can be reached. After all, the affiliate is the one making the merchandiser money!
2. Lack of Email or Web Site
Is there a definite lack of web page or proprietary email? If so, this could be another sign of trouble down the road. Just because the company has a free email account does not necessarily mean they are out to scam someone. However, it should be viewed as suspicious. 메이저사이트 A real, honest-to-goodness company will have their own domain name and emails linked to that domain.
3. All Business Done by Email
This is another red flag so be cautious about anyone wanting to do business solely by email. This could mean they do not want actual contact and want their real identity to remain anonymous. Ask questions of a potential company and gauge their response time. If response time were over 48 hours, the potential affiliate marketer would be better served by doing business with a different company. Be cautious and ask questions before giving up any cash.
4. Promises of Quick Cash and “Get-Rich-Quick”
Remember the age-old adage of, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”! This is just sound business practice and common sense. This said however, there are still those who fall for the line of “instant wealth” and the whole “lazy man way to riches” line. Everyone should be aware that a new business requires work. There are no free lunches. So, just say “no” to those who would have you believe 100k a month is possible by doing absolutely nothing other than buying his or her product and watching the money roll in! (Note: A lot of scammers are on to this one however and will tell you that this is not a get-rich-quick plan, even though they are telling you how money will fall from the sky if you sign up with them.) Also be sure and check out the disclaimer, fine print, and testimonials before signing up for anything. These three things will speak volumes as to how legitimate the company really is.
How can one tell the difference between the good, bad, and the ugly of affiliate marketing companies? In a word: Research. Read up on the company before signing up. Read all the articles and ezines published on the company, then check out the “scam” websites to see what other people are saying about it. is one website set up to let other people know what has happened to them. If you do not find the name there or other scam sites, type the name of the company in a search engine with the word “scam” after it. Usually this will bring good results. Just know that some of the scammers change names frequently and may be so new that they will not show up on these sites.
Another good way to tell the difference is in the compensation plan offered by the company. Do they let people know what it is up front or do they want money first? If they want money up front before revealing how they pay, go elsewhere.