Scams

On the Internet especially, you come across earning opportunities which offer a lot or easy money: “Make money easily and have fun”, “You can earn thousands of Euros for just a few hours work per week”, “Work at home and earn 200 Euros a day”. No special skills are needed to earn easy money – “you just need an Internet connection”.

The person making this offer creates in impression that without straining yourself you can make easy money and even earn thousands of Euros a month. The truth may be rather more austere: In the worst case you do not earn anything, instead you lose time and money. In such as case the police or other authorities can rarely help in resolving the matter.

Market research and opinion polls

The nature of the work includes responding to opinion polls and market research surveys. In order to make money you have to buy something from the company, for example a starter pack for market research surveys and questionnaires. Sadly, you will never get back the money you invested, and the idea is that you fill the pockets of the person who is pushing the idea with your money.

Clicking on advertisements (Paid To Click -services)

The work involves surfing the net and clicking on advertisements. You won’t necessarily earn a penny for your trouble. The idea behind clicking on adverts is that the owners of the pages earn money when people click on the advertisements.

Pyramid scams

Quick and easy riches are also promised in various kinds of pyramid scams which are disguised as investment operations or network marketing. Read more

Stop

• Check who you are dealing with. If earning money is promised to be really easy and fun, be critical and check out the background of the service provider.
• Find out how the commission system works. Be careful if you have to invest in a business idea in order to earn money. You are likely to lose the money you invest and will have to work without earning any money or you will receive only a few cents/Euros a month. You could certainly use that time more effectively.
• Check also that you will be able to get the commission promised if it is not paid into your account. Some service providers require you to open a PayPal account for example. However, you cannot take payments out of it. The service provider is assuming that you won’t be bothered to start to fight over small sums of money.
• Remember: If you want to earn money on the net for example, you still have to work for it. Ask yourself: Is the offer too good to be true? If an offer sounds too good to be true, it is rarely true.

Act

If you think that you have been the victim of a crime, then you should contact the police.  
Police