The Truth About Paid Surveys – Are They Legit or Scams?

The Truth About Paid Surveys – Are They Legit or Scams?
DJ Miller
11/28/2014
Updated:
4/23/2016

We need to understand the fact that some of the opportunities we find on the Internet are not as good as they seem. Unfortunately, this is often the case with paid surveys. While the premise is one that is great at first glance, most of the websites that tell you to join and perform some surveys in order to make money will just try to take advantage of you.

The good news is that there are also some sites that will be completely honest with you. In order to actually be able to realize where these websites are so that you can avoid the scammers, there are some facts that you have to understand. This is what we will talk about in the following paragraphs, offering you the tools you need in order to be really successful on the long run.

About Online Surveys

The online survey stands out as a fast growing market research tool that is used by many companies. This is because of the fact that they are really cheap to do, easy and very quick. Information can be gained really fast and we all know that information is really important for business purposes.

The Scammers also love online surveys due to the fact that it is incredibly easy to end up tricking people into offering personal information or money as they think they will receive money because they participate in a survey.

A legitimate online survey company are those presented by EliteSurveySites and GetPaidSurveys and other similar sites. At the same time, there are multiple ways in which information can be gained through surveys. Besides working with those companies that give access to databases of individuals interested in participating in surveys, a firm can also use direct emailing, asking for anything from customer services to product satisfaction.

Paid Survey Sites

Paid survey sites have been around for quite a long time. The premise is really simple: a person joins and participates in a survey. As a result, he makes money, a part of the cash that is offered by the company that requests the survey.

There are basically hundreds of websites out there that allow you to make money by participating in surveys. This is something that is attractive. After all, you just need to participate in an online survey, just a few minutes, and make money in return. Since you regularly receive a lot of spam emails in your email on a day-to-day basis, it is obvious that it is not a problem to check one more, one that can offer cash.

Paid Survey Scams

There are so many online survey scams on the internet at the moment. The scam is based on the fact that the payment promised for one survey completion is very high. It is quite common to notice offers of around 10 to  100 dollars for one survey that is completed.

People are naturally tempted to want to get money fast and the premise of 50 dollars in 5 minutes is incredibly attractive. The number of online users is growing at a really fast rate so the easy money schemes do work, even if there is an increase in the number of people that realize they are being taken advantage of. We are faced with tens of thousands of people that can be tricked so scammers will always be around.

Identifying Paid Survey Scams

There are many different things that can be said about this topic. The truth is that it is not that tough to identify the paid survey scams. You basically need to be sure that you have patience and that you learn all that you can about the site that offers the cash.

The one clear sign that you are faced with a scam attempt is how much money the site promises to offer. If you notice a deal that is over a few tens of dollars, you can be sure that you are faced with a scam attempt. Just think about how much a company can afford to pay for a survey. In most situations there is a need to have at least 100 people participate in a survey. If the company would pay $100 for one online survey participant, it means that there is a budget of at least $10,000, which is not a small fee.

Look at the contact section of the website you are on. You have to be sure that there is a real company behind the paid survey website. While it is possible that you can earn around $10 per hour with these options, it is also possible to lose a lot of cash as you are taken advantage of. With this in mind, you need to be sure that the company behind the site is legit.

You have to check the address of the company and basically be sure that you are faced with a firm that can actually be contacted. This means you will need to basically use the phone. Never trust those paid survey offers that just have an email you can use to contact.

At the same time, we need to highlight that the internet is filled with information about practically all the different paid survey opportunities that are available. Sites like the one we mentioned before have to be considered. If you notice that there are many scam complaints that are written about a considered online survey site, it is a guarantee that you are faced with someone that tries to take advantage of you.

Conclusions

On the whole, you need to understand that online paid surveys are real in the sense that you can make quite a lot of money through them, especially when compared with other options that are available on the Internet.

The problem is that we are faced with more scam offers available than legit deals. It is imperative that you learn all that you can about the websites you are about to use and you will want to be sure that a serious industry authority refers the site before you join.

DJ Miller is a graduate student at the University of Tampa. He's an avid gadget geek and spends most of his time reading or writing. He is a huge fantasy sports fan and even runs his own advice site for Fantasy Help.
Related Topics