On
05.04.09 , In
Known Scams, by
Steve
Many scams are moving away from traditional presell pages towards pages that mimic blogs. And their tactics are working.
Scammers are always looking to earn your trust. As they use more deceptive marketing, their sales increase. Since bloggers have become the authority figures on the Internet, scammers are now trying to edge in on their reliability. Many scams are moving away from traditional presell pages towards pages that mimic blogs. And their tactics are working.
How to Spot the Fake Blog
It can be tough to distinguish real blogs from their scammy salepage counterparts, but there are a few key elements that will make it easy for you to tell them apart.
- There are only two or three links on the page and they all point to the same product the fake blog is trying to sell. Take a look at any page on our blog and you’ll see hundreds of possible links for you to click on. Fake blogs only have links pointing to what they are pushing.
- There is only one post and it’s a post outlining how great their life is now that they found the scam they are pushing. The post usually begins with a life story that you can relate to and then offers you suggestions on how to improve your life by becoming a millionaire by buying this miracle product that they happened to stumple upon.
- Fake blogs are missing any sort of navigation. This warps up my point about single links within one post. The owner of the fake blog wants to make sure that if you’re leaving the sales page, you’re leaving through his or her affiliate link to the scam.
- The comment form is closed and it’s always due to spam. There are about 10-15 comments though praising the “author” of the “blog” for helping them improve their lives as well. You can’t include your own comment, because it’s not a real blog and those aren’t real comments.
Keep your eyes open and always do your research. Scammers are getting crafty these days.
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6 Responses
I came across a blog that was fake for one of those phony Google money making programs. I figured it was just an over exaggerated blog,so gave the program a shot thinking a few hundred dollars would be nice, lol, but turns out they’re totally fake. I know this because fortunately, I saw your blog on the scam Google programs. I canceled, lost no money (was I ever a lucky duck), got some disc from them, too, which will make a nice coaster for my lemonade this summer :-}
So, I thank you for your site and blogs!
Have a great day,
Andrea
Hi to all viewers! Just to let viewers know that I think these two sites are the exact same;(www.superearners.com) and (www.home-profits.biz). Same front page, same faces for customer feedbacks, welcome bonus of $100 and if your earning for the month is more than $1000 the company will give you an extra $1000 on top of your month earnings. Beware! I bought from Home-Profits.biz and paid $40. It’s been 4 months now and I haven’t made any earnings yet. Not even the $40 membership fee, and i’ve been advertising everyday and posting ads but nothing yet. Thank you for this blog site where we could check on scam sites and to post our comments too. Your site is a life-saving to our pocket money. Thanks again- **Kat**
This one even claims to be offering jobs – not even a “wrok at home opportunity” but actual jobs.
Here is their adwords ad:
Now Hiring: (Good Job)
Job Requires: Basic Computer Skills
Your Own Home Computer. Weekly Pay.
http://www.MarysLifeJob.com
Of course when you go to that page you get the usual fake blog with statements like
Fast Cash With Google
Step 1:
Get
Google Biz Kit
Step 2:
Also Get
Internet Biz Kit
(This is key. Must do both!)
Step 3:
Post Links given to you by Google
Step 4:
Deposit the check Google sends you!
So pretending to offer jobs which do not exist and implying that Google is offering those jobs. The owner of MarysLifeJob.com better have a good lawyer when Google tracks them down…
MarysLifeJob is part of a series of nearly-identical blogs using the same sales pitch and even a few of the same photos. JoshMadeCash.com is another one, I’ve been getting spammed with pop-under ads for it for the past few weeks. It’s so transparently fake it drives me insane. The thing I’ll never understand about scams: why not just put this much effort and creativity into a LEGITIMATE business? Sigh.
I found a site where the scammers are boasting each other how much money they made:
http://www.warriorforum.com/ad-networks-cpa-cpm-cpl-millionaire-makers/83426-now-kebin-has-audio-still-makeing-5-000-week-posting-link-google.html
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