Work From Home 4 Dollars

There are over 500 online companies offering money for people who want to work from home doing surveys and earn a full-time income. Beware of such sites that promise you riches for nothing; they’re a scam.

While there are some legitimate sites that pay a few dollars to take a ten minute survey, there are others that are not legitimate. Many of these sites simply exist to gather your personal information and sell it to telemarketing companies. A few of them are downright scams that require a “sign-up” fee in exchange for the privilege of working from home.

One of the sites I’ve run across is workfromhome4dollars.com. This site not only offers you “up to $75 an hour” for completing surveys in the privacy of your own home, it also advertises just about every “work from home” scam there is. Most of these schemes are aimed at women who are trying to make a few extra dollars while staying home with the kids.

There are some legitimate companies out there on the internet and I am halfway intelligent and can usually pick up on a scam from a mile away and as soon as I clicked on workfromhome4dollars.com, the smell overwhelmed me.

P.T. Barnum said there is a sucker born every minute. Unfortunately, he was spot on in his assessment of human nature. Sadly, there are many predators out there who are only too glad to take someone’s hard-earned money with the promise of a “get rich quick” scheme.

Workfromhome4dollars is only too glad to hook you up with surveys that promise to pay $5-$75 an hour. For $34.95, the site will direct you to a survey site where you can participate in surveys. What workfromhome4dollars.com doesn’t tell you is that these sites can be accessed by any individual with internet experience without paying a dime.

In addition to offering “opportunity” for paid surveys, workfromhome4dollars.com offers other “opportunities” such as “typing from home,” “medical transcription from home,” “data entry from home” and other schemes aimed mostly at uneducated women. All of these “golden opportunities” cost the participant anywhere from $35 to $75 to enroll.

The site is merely a money making portal. Of all the sites on the internet I’ve seen while researching this topic, this is the worst. I implore anyone who is interested in participating in paid surveys to beware of the following:

- Do not give out your credit card number, social security number or bank information to any online site.

- Beware of any site that promises “thousands of dollars a month” for working from home. I’ve done a lot of checking into paid surveys and if it were that easy, no one would work outside the home.

- Do not pay “upfront” for the privilege of doing a survey. Legitimate companies will not ask for a fee.

- Paid surveys are a way to make supplemental income; not a living. You can expect to make maybe $200 a month doing this.

- Before signing up for any online survey site, do a little bit of research. The honest ones will tell you that you won’t make a lot of money and will have stringent privacy policies.

- Do not, under any circumstances, ever participate in any survey about health insurance. I made this mistake once and now get about five calls a day from people trying to sell me health insurance.

- If you are participating in a survey and are directed to another website, do not feel you have to answer any questions on that site. Many times there will be “fine print” that charges your telephone number for trying a product. In addition to this, keep close tabs on your telephone bill.

- Each time you log on to your computer, clear your cookies.

Participating in paid surveys can be a fun way to earn a few extra dollars, gift cards or discount certificates. Do not expect to “get rich” doing this. And under no circumstances ever pay for the “privilege” of doing a survey.

There are several myths and misconceptions that abound when it comes to Phishing. These are the top 5 most common ones:

Myth #1

Anti-spam software can detect phishing email

While anti-phishing and spam filters can decrease the number of phising emails that get into your inbox, they are not 100% effective. Whenever anti-phishing technology keeps improving, the phishers are always devising ways to get around them. It truly is a cat-and-mouse game.

Secondly, because spam email and phishing email are different (phishing email spoofs a legitimate business), a different set of rules and criteria are required to detect the phisher.

Myth #2

As long as I don’t give my password and user-name, I won’t be Phished

Phishers are getting increasingly sophisticated. They now employ several variations on the original spoofed email that once requested your password and user-name.

They will, for example, instruct you to click on a link so as to update your information at a website. If you do click on the link, malware such as a keylogger or spyware will be downloaded to your computer.
The link may take you to a spoofed website, but it may also link you to the actual website of the legitimate business. Once there, a pop-up or overlay is activated, directing you to log in. You will probably be unaware that your access information has been compromised.

Myth #3

Most Phishing attacks originate from outside

With all the time and effort that has been poured into the Nigerian 419 spam scams, it is commonly assumed that phishing originates from emerging countries outside America. However, a study by Symantec shows that the majority of phishing attacks actually originate within the U.S.

Myth #4

Phishing is a problem that we can solve by educating users

This is not true. There are various ways the phisher can camouflage an IP address. In fact, a large proportion of phishing attacks are enabled through common misconfiguration in a web application. Phishers can manipulate internet technology to redirect you from a real and legitimate website, in such a way that although the original web address points to this real web site you are taken to the phisher’s web site.

As the incidents of phishing and identity theft have increased, people have become more aware, and better able to identify phishing emails. The percentage of phishing victims has gone down. However, even though users are getting better educated and informed about phishing, there is always still a chance that someone will mistake a well-crafted phishing email for the real thing.

Myth #5

I will know one when I see one

This is another misconception regarding phishing, and a potentially dangerous one at that, especially in our digital world. With all the time, talent and technology available to them, these cyber crooks have more than ample resources to create and execute increasingly realistic email spam, web site spoofs or other electronic means by which to scam you out of your confidential financial data and wreak havoc on your financial affairs.

Vigilance is, in fact, your number one protection against the phisher’s hook. Underestimating the phishers may cost you.