This information has been updated to include online task jobs, referral, PTR / paid to read emails and PTC / paid to click scam sites. None of these sites will pay you, but they will sell your personal information and put you at risk for identity theft.
The Initial Scam I Fell For
A few years ago, I was surfing the web looking for opportunities to
make money from home . I came across a YouTube video that was highlighting a site called ‘Get the Job’ or something like that. I signed up for it, but my gut feeling was telling me this is ‘too good to be true’ and not long after that, my gut feeling was right.
At the time, there wasn’t much information available about these scam sites, but the fact that I ended up with a virus on my computer after clicking on links on that site, was a good indication I had just fallen for an online job scam.
This article is going to focus on more ‘get paid to perform online tasks scam sites’ and referral scams that are becoming popular on the Internet.
The get paid to perform online tasks scam sites claim you will be paid a ridiculous amount for completing simple tasks online. That promise alone, should be a red flag. Legitimate websites are not going to pay you $$5.00, 10.00 or $20.00 to complete a simple or short task or up to $10.00 per referral. These scams sites will not pay you after you attempt to cash out. If you have joined these sites and performed a number of tasks you have wasted your time and have possibly set yourself up for identity theft.
One of the members of the scam site MoneyatMyHand.com told me that she was hacked after using the site. I think it is clear that these scam sites have malicious intentions. Another member with MyMoneyWish.com claims they were hacked too. The same website template is used for both sites. There is bad trend with these scam sites.
The victims of these scam sites are often people new to the make money online world. If you are new, I recommend reading one of my other articles about how to avoid work from home or business opportunity scams.
>>>>Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link, you will be taken to the merchant’s website. If you decide to purchase that product, I stand to make a commission on the sale.
What Is The Scam?
Most of these scam sites are similar in nature. Here is how these scam sites work. You are required to register. You will notice that there aren’t very many tasks if any, to complete. What they really want you to do is post your referral link and get other people to sign up through your link via social media, classified ads and forums.
If and when you reach the ridiculously high payment threshold of $300.00 or more (some of the scam sites have a $50.00 minimum payout), you will be required to complete a survey, complete an offer or some require you to download an app, but there is a catch. Some of the surveys and the offers are not free. That’s right, you have to fork out some money. This is referred to as the ‘human verification’ scam and can be very problematic. Human verification used by these scammers are often used to put malicious software and viruses on your device.
Even after you complete the survey, complete an offer or download an app, you will not get paid.
I couldn’t find an option that will allow you to close out your account. Legitimate sites offer that option.
One of the reasons these scams sites are spreading so badly is because the tasks are limited and there is no way to reach the payment threshold by completing tasks. As a result of that limitation, the members resort to promoting their referral anywhere they can, i.e. forums, social media and classified ad sites. Again, that’s what the scammers want. I’ve encountered some very unethical people on Facebook. Even after being informed of the scam, they still continue to promote it. It’s pretty mind boggling and disgusting.
I’ve challenged several of the people who promote these scam sites. When they see money in their dashboard, they consider that their money. They believe because it is ‘free’, and they also believe are not doing any harm. They are just ‘testing the site’ to see if it is legitimate. What they fail to realize is that by promoting the scam site, they are misleading people by telling them it is ‘legit and free’. They choose to be part of the problem by promoting the scam to other people. They putting people at risk for ID theft. That is serious.
>>>>>For those of you who are still wondering if these sites are scams or if they pay…..THEY DO NOT PAY BECAUSE THEY ARE SCAM SITES.
How Do These Scam Sites Make Money?
It is my opinion that these sites have the intention of stealing your personal information to clean out your bank account or steal your identity to open up different accounts. That’s their goal. They are not legitimate, but they are worldwide.
One way they make money is to require you to pay for surveys, complete paid offers or download an app before you can ‘cash out’. The scammers will get paid when you complete one of those requirements. I don’t know what the dollar amount is, but from what some of the victims of this scam have commented, it can be a substantial amount. Legitimate sites have thresholds ranging from $10.00-$100.00. Amounts greater than $100.00 should raise reg flags.
Another way these scam sites make money is by selling the members’ emails. That is another reason for them to want the members to promote the scam site as much as possible. This should be concerning because the emails aren’t just sold to companies who want to promote their product or services to you. The email lists are offered up to anyone for the right price. This includes other scammers and hackers. The scammers and hackers will send out malicious emails with the intent of gaining access to your personal information, usernames and passwords. So for those of you who to balk at my warnings, you might want to reconsider this not so great opportunity.
Important note:
If you have signed up for one of the sites listed below or similar sites, check your computer for a virus or malware using
Malwarebytes.com
Malwarebytes offers a free download. It will scan your computer for malicious files and remove them. It’s a very simple process and I recommend performing a scan every month. If you use the Internet daily, you might want to perform the scan more frequently. I scan my computer on a weekly basis. If you want even more protection, you can use the Malwarebytes paid option.
Some of these scam sites request your PayPal account number. Didn’t know you had one? Well, you do and it is located in your PayPal account profile. That’s should be another red flag. No legitimate site will ever ask you for your PayPal account number. PayPal uses the email associated and verified with your PayPal account.
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Scam Site Examples
The image below is an example of just one of the templates the scammers use. If you look at this how can you tell it’s a scam without actually testing it? Here’s how:
The site is very generic.
There is no contact or support information.
There are no Terms & Conditions.
There no disclaimers or policies.
There are no instructions about what you will be doing.
High cash out threshold of $300.00. (Anything over $100.00 should raise suspicion.)
When you register, you will receive a referral link.
The scammers want you to promote your referral link on social media sites, classified sites, chat rooms and forums.
Once you reach the minimum payout requirement you will be required to complete a survey, complete an offer or download an app, which is known as ‘human verification’.
The PayPal option is not clickable so there is no way to enter an PayPal email to get paid.
Do not opt for the other payment options. The information you provide is what they need to steal your identity.
The previous scam was Money4refer.com which is no longer active.
The contact information is fake.
These scam sites are known to sell your information to other companies, other scammers and hackers.
There are no Terms & Conditions, policies or disclaimers.
There is no option to close or delete your account.
Example of another popular scam site:
If you see sites with these dollar amounts, just know they are scam sites and they will not pay you:
Minimum pay out is $25,000 (this one detail should be enough to prove this site is a scam).
All eMails worth $100-$200.
All PTC worth $50-$100.
$500 Signup Bonus.
$50-$60 referral bonus.
When you “attempt” to cash out, they will require you to upgrade. Do not upgrade because you will not receive a dime from these scam sites.
As you can see some of the dollar amounts vary per site, but they are still unrealistic and should be considered scam sites.
Another example of a scam site that uses the same template for multiple domains:
The image below is a site that is part of a very large Russian scam network. There are numerous sites involved. All of the sites show the same fake user feedback and fake payouts.
Their contact information is fake.
When you reach the $150.00 payout threshold, the scammers will tell you need to have at least 40 referrals. If you do not have the 40 referrals, they try to get you to purchase the referrals. DO NOT PURCHASE THE REFERRALS, THEY ARE FAKE.
After you reach 40 referrals, the scammers lock out your account.
Another example of a scam site that uses the same template for multiple domains:
Evaluate Logos
Ask for your PayPal account number.
List of Get Paid To Perform Online Tasks, Referral, PTR, PTC Scam Sites
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