Are Online Surveys A Scam? 5 Things You Should Know

Are online surveys a scam? No. Companies spend millions of dollars every year on market research. There is always a demand for consumer opinions and paid surveys help companies understand what the public likes and dislikes about their products.

Even though online surveys are not a scam, there are some shady survey sites who take advantage and don’t pay. Don’t worry though because there are dozens of legitimate survey sites that will pay you for your opinions.

Here are 5 things you should know about free paid surveys that will help you separate a scam from the real ones…

Is It Free?

It is strongly recommended that you stick with free surveys only and stay away from sites charging fees. Most of those are scams and a waste of money. Their advertisements might look appealing, but don’t be fooled. They usually promise to provide you with the highest paid surveys online if you pay for a subscription.

Most of those sites are directories and not actual survey sites. What’s worse is the surveys inside the directory are usually scams too or not even surveys to begin with. There is no need to pay for any surveys online since you can find so many real survey sites that are totally free.

Better Business Bureau

If you have doubts about a survey site you are thinking about joining, just take a minute to look them up on the website for the Better Business Bureau. Complaints, if any, will be reported there, but a complaint-free report does not mean that the survey site in question is not a scam.

The Better Business Bureau is a good place to look for complaints, but it’s not the only place you should look. Look for complaints on sites like Ripoffreport.com.

Check the Whois

In the whois, legitimate survey sites will not be registered by proxy, which means their name and address should be available for the public to see. Even then though, that doesn’t mean the site isn’t a scam, but there’s less of a chance, since scammers will not reveal who they are.

Look at the whois records to see if there are other similar sites launched under the persons name. There could be several scam survey sites operated by the same person.

Good or Bad Reviews?

This is obvious, but don’t forget to check reviews. Skimming through reviews online is one of the best ways to find out if a survey site is paying people or not. It is virtually impossible for a survey site to screw people over and not have complaints posted publicly somewhere on the Internet. Once again, Ripoffreport.com is good, as well as Reviewopedia and even Warrior Forum.

I like Reviewopedia because there are tons of reviews and star ratings there. It is also important to realize that not all reviews can be trusted. People write bad reviews as a bait and switch tactic to get the reader to sign up through their affiliate link for another site instead of the site in question. Check reviews on several sites if you’re worried.

Payment Proof?

If people are making money from a survey site they usually post a picture of their check online or make a short video. Use Google Images to find pictures of checks for survey earnings. It is a good way to find out if a site pays or not and also how much money you could potentially make. Images 0f checks are real for the most part, but not PayPal payment proofs. People can easily alter and change the numbers on virtual payment proofs.