Dear Steve and Joe,

I would like to inform you about my own experience. I am a scam victim. I paid the membership fee for this website datapcjobs.com and they claimed to refund you if you are not satisfied. And really i wasn’t satisfied because all that they claimed about the earnings and jobs were a big LIE. Then i sent many and many emails to GREG MORRISSON. He is the one who promised people money, but till now I have never gotten any reply from them. THEY DON’T REFUND YOU AND NEVER PROVIDE ANY HELP AS THEY CLAIMED.THEY PROVIDE A LIST OF SCAMMED COMPANIES ONLY

It’s true, Ala, there is no Santa Claus. And there is no way to make $1,200 by just typing up four ads, which is what the Web site claims. The site has a little calculator where you type in the number of ads you think you can create in a day. Each one takes 5-10 minutes to write, they say. I figured I could write 40 per day. That’s only six hours! According to the BS calculator at datapcjobs.com, with 40 ads I could make $12,000 per day. That’s $365,000 per month. Around $4,320,000 per year.

“Could” is the key word. I could also become Mr. Universe and could marry Megan Fox and we could retire to Fiji. But it ain’t gonna happen. (At least, not the Megan Fox and Fiji parts. Mr. Universe might still happen.)

Data entry “jobs” as they’re advertised online are not jobs at all. They’re affiliate marketing programs. If you’re lucky, the program you give your money to (DataPCJobs costs $37) will show you how to sign up for a Clickbank account and other affiliate accounts, and then show you how to post advertisements.

But to call these a “job” is just a lie. Because in a job, you get paid. With these crappy programs, you only get paid IF someone clicks on one of your advertisements, AND THEN makes a purchase. Maybe 3 in 100 people that click your ad make a purchase. That’s a pretty crappy hourly wage if a job is what you’re looking for.

Stay away from DataPCJobs.com.

At least two or three times a day, we receive requests for more information on ways you can make money online. True information of this sort is hard to come by as this niche is riddled with scams. We’ve compiled a few lists of ways to make money online, but this is going to be the biggest, most comprehensive list we’ve created yet. We’ll continually update and add to this directory as we come across more legitimate opportunities of making money online.

Now tracking 89 legitimate positions.

Our Top Recommendation
Save some time and check out our top recommendation for making money at home. This program been personally tried and tested by us and have proven to make money.
Click here for more information.

Blogging Positions
Blogging is by far the best and easiest way to make money online. If you’re looking to make extra money using the internet, blogging is the answer. Look here first.
View 11 available blogging positions.

Customer Service Jobs
As a customer service representative from home, you may find yourself answering support calls, doing market research, or even some (gasp) telemarketing. You should expect to find yourself on the phone nearly the entire time while you are working. Great communication skills are a must.
View 11 available customer service positions.

Data Entry Work
Data entry positions are incredibly rare. Even if you do happen to land a data entry job, the pay will be so little it will be worthless. Combine that with the incalculable number of data entry scams out there, and you have quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to working at home. Still interested? You can’t say I didn’t warn you.
View 12 available data entry positions.

Freelance Writing
Freelance writing allows you to write articles or reviews on pretty much anything and get paid for it. You may not think of yourself as much of a writer, but like everything in life, practice makes perfect. Try freelance writing and you’ll be surprised with the results.
View 16 available freelance writing positions.

Miscellaneous Get Paid to Opportunities
This category is for all those ways of making money that I don’t really know where else to put them. Use one or use them all. Either way, I’ve tested them, I’ve tried them, and I’m currently using them to supplement my income.
View 3 miscellaneous ways to make money.

Paid Surveys
Paid surveys are a great way of giving your opinion and getting paid. A lot of survey companies have taken to the Internet in the past few years and are now willing to pay you to complete surveys online.
View 26 available paid survey positions.

Sell Stock Photography
Get paid to take pictures. Is it really that easy? Of course not, but the following list of sites will help you get started with selling your photography and turn your hobby into an extra bit of side cash.
View 8 available ways to sell stock photography online.

Start a Website
One of the best ways to make money online is through running your own website. Overhead costs are low, profits can quickly start to roll in, and the entire process is a lot of fun. Interested? Well, you should be because now there’s a step-by-step guide on how to setup a website and profit from it.
Click here for more information.

Work at Home
We have finally found a book perfect for our readers. The book is called In Your PJs and it can be summed up with this simple phrase: it is the answer to all of your work at home questions. In Your PJs shows you step by step, practical ways to create your own work at home jobs. No gimmicks. No affiliate marketing. No scams. Real work, real paychecks.
Click here for more information.

Data Entry Background Information

No two words make me cringe more than ‘data entry.’ When I hear the words data entry, I instantly think scam. That is because there are a lot of data entry jobs that are mislabeled in order to deceive you of money. This is nothing new. In fact, we blog about it on a weekly basis. However. Amidst the muck and grime lay a few legitimate companies offering online data entry jobs.

Now, before you think you’ve struck gold with this post, realize you haven’t. These jobs are highly competitive. More often than not, you’ll be put on a waiting list for 6-12 months just to be told you don’t meet the jobs requirements. Even if you do get hired, you’ll be working for minimal wage, if not less. Listen to me, data entry jobs ARE NOT going to make you rich. This may sound harsh, but it is the truth.

If you’re still interested in doing data entry work, the following list would be a good place to start. I’ve included transcription jobs in the list as well.

Recommended Data Entry Programs

denotes an “I’ve Tried That must-join” program.

• Working Solutions
• Key for Cash

• Absolute Docs
• Accutran Global
• Axion Data
• Caption Colorado
• Driver Guide
• Morningside Partners
• Mulberry Studio
• Reed Technology
• TDEC
• Tiger Fish

So we can’t claim to have tried what we’re about to trash. It’s just our collective opinion. Take that for what it’s worth. However, we are writing from lots of experience with sites that are long on hype and short on delivery.

Typistjobs.net is like all the others we’ve seen before. This post is an analysis of the red flags that are all over the site, not an insider’s review of the program.

Can You Make Money with Typistjobs.net?
No. Well, a very few will. In fact, if you choose to pursue the program that you bought, you’ll end up spending money, not earning it. That’s because you won’t be doing “typing jobs” at all. You’ll be doing affiliate marketing.

Why Typistjobs.net?
There are tons of sites offering to sell you the secrets of getting rich by typing at home. The link above includes a list of the top search results for “home typiing jobs,” each of them pretty much the same. Why settle on Typistjobs.net? It’s very simple: because of the gorgeous babe at the top of the page. Oh, be still, my heart! If I’m going to spend a lot of time looking at a site to dissect it, I might as well look at her instead of the cheesy stock photos and ugly snapshots at typingwealth.com.

What You Mean by “Typist Jobs”
When you go to Google looking for “home typing jobs,” here’s what you imagine: You think you’ll get hooked up with some company that needs you to type up paper documents to digitize them. Or maybe a law firm that needs you to transcribe audio files. You think you’ll do, you know, typing. You also believe that, in return for your work, you’ll get a paycheck. That’s what “job” means, after all.

Sites like typistjobs.net know this is what you’re looking for, and they use that knowledge to take your money. They know you’ll ask yourself, “Is this legitimate? Is it really possible?” They also know most people won’t think to ask, “Will I really be doing typing work? Will I get paid by the hour or based on my volume?”

What They Mean by “Typist Jobs”
You see, they let you think that their definition of “typist jobs” is the same as yours. That assumption is what gets people to take out their credit cards. But when you complain that they lied to you, they’ll say you misunderstood. To them, “typist jobs” means: “Creating affiliate ads and then sending them all over the Net.” To them, “getting paid” means: “Commissions you get if someone clicks on your ad and then buys what it offers.”

If that’s what you want to do, go for it. Lots of people make money online with affiliate ads, and if you’re going to get into it, you might as well start by buying from the page with the beautiful woman.

But if that’s not what you had in mind when you searched for typing jobs, run fast, run far. Typistjobs.net is chock full of red flags that shout, YOU ARE BEING MISLED. Here are some of them:

• It claims you can make “$200, $500,or even $1,000 – EVERY single day, working
  just 15-30 minutes a day!
  It should go without saying, but it doesn’t: life doesn’t work that way, folks. You’re not going to get rich with no effort. Unless you’re Paris Hilton or a smoking-hot 22-year-old female friend of Eliot Spitzer, that’s true all the time.
• The words, “…doing data entry.”
  In our experience, this phrase is a dead giveaway. It’s a virtual guarantee that you won’t be doing “data entry” in the way you think of it. I once worked at the IRS. Now THAT’s data entry. Those people type so fast it makes you dizzy. And they made about $9 an hour. (See our series of smackdowns on data entry jobs here.)
• The words, “…99% of them are total scams!.”
  But this one isn’t. Really! We promise! They pretend to be your friend by acknowledging what you already suspect: that you’re being scammed. This is a “good-cop” strategy meant to tear down your defenses.
• The “proof” of earnings.
  Every site that tries to sell you a money-making program includes a picture like the one on the page as if that proves anything. But typistjobs.net was less careful than most sites. They left the word “Clickbank” on the graph, which shows that we are in fact dealing with affiliate marketing, not typing. Those may very well be real earnings, but they’re not from filling out forms. They probably come from selling the “home typing” program to desperate people.
• Real typing jobs have speed requirements.
  If you’ve ever applied for a real typing or data entry job, you know that the employer wants to see proof of how fast you can type. If you’re slower than 70 words a minute, you won’t even get a second look from a potential employer. That’s the nature of real typing jobs. Sites like this one and many others insist that you don’t need any special skills. That’s like a company setting out to hire a computer programmer and saying, “No programming skills necessary.”

Further Proof of Affiliate Marketing
We sometimes take a lot of heat for reviewing a program that we haven’t actually tried. However, when it comes to websites like these, we know what we’re dealing with because we’ve already seen it all. To emphasize my point, take for example a screen shot of a “sample” entry form for your “home typing” job. (It’s found at the bottom of the FAQ page) The site leads you to believe that all you have to do is fill in this form and get paid. What they fail to tell you is that after you fill in the form, you’ll have to spend quite a few dollars in order to get an advertisement up and running through Google Adwords.

Click here to view the screen shot of their sample form.
And now click here to view my screen shot of Google Adword’s back-end panel.

Notice the similarities? The screen shots aren’t matching exactly because the sample form used by TypistJobs.net is a few years old. You could say that it’s pretty convenient that they “forgot” to add in the Google Adwords logo, but I say it’s a deceptive ploy to scam you out of money.

Keep Your Guard Up
It seems everyone has a program they’re trying to sell for $49.95 that will help you earn “$1,000 every day!” That’s a clue right there that you’re being lied to. When we find such a guaranteed money maker, you can be sure we’ll sell it. Starting bid will be $10,000.

But we don’t know of any such money maker. We do know how you can add a couple hundred bucks to your monthly budget, though. We know how to find real jobs, not B.S. like home typing job sites are trying to sell you. Real jobs. Real pay. No gimmicks. It’s all in our ebook. It costs as little as $5.95, so check it out today!

This is a great site, and you do a terrific job of unmasking these scams for what they really are and spelling out what’s really going on in black and white. In just a couple of sentences, you described exactly what these “data entry” programs actually are, while the scammers who sell them write paragraphs and paragraphs describing what they aren’t at all.

Seen One, Seen ‘em All
I actually came across your site while checking up on another company. When I first read through its site, I was nearly sucked in. Then I decided to explore some of the other sites that also offered “data entry” work at home. Not because I suspected it was a scam, but because I wanted to see what other options were out there. The red flags went up, though, when nearly every site I went to sounded the same as the one I looked at. The wording on the pages, the claims made, the assurances offered… it all sounded like the same company had put up multiple websites under different names. Even the pop-up windows with the 50% off coupon that expires at 11:59 PM tonight… every site had this. Or the regular $99 price being slashed to $49 for just a short time. So what initially sounded like a great opportunity on the first site I went to, started screaming “SCAM!” when I encountered the exact same thing on other sites. Every site seemed to have been created using the same template and following the same blueprint; every site made the same sales pitch in the same way. More about this below. [Joe's note: Steve warned us about this type of page in an early I've Tried That post: How to Spot the Presell Page.]

Can You Really Find Data Entry Jobs This Way?
Data entry? I don’t think so. What these companies offer has nothing to do with what most people think of when they think of data entry. This is affiliate marketing, plain and simple. And for those people who understand what this is and want to try their luck at it, that’s fine. But telling people who are looking for actual data entry jobs that this is for them is deceptive and just plain cruel. Someone who actually wants to try affiliate marketing might be able to be successful at it, knowing what’s involved and what the risks are. But someone looking for data entry won’t succeed at it, especially since they don’t even know the true nature of what they’re doing and can’t appreciate what’s actually involved.

What Your “Job” Will Really Entail
The bottom line is, the companies that are supposedly providing you with data entry work for which they’ll pay you are doing nothing more than tricking you into doing their advertising for them and tricking you into paying for that advertising. They write their little ads, and then instead of submitting them to Google and paying Google to run them, they get YOU to submit them to Google and pay Google to run them. And all under the guise of “data entry” work! Then they sit back and reap the profits from any products sold without spending a dime on advertising. [Joe's note: Google Adwords is just one form of "data entry" in this deceptive advertising. You might also fill out affiliate applications and data fields that allow bots to spew spam ads all over the Internet in forums and blogs.]

What really gets me is this: if they were honest and up-front about what they’re actually selling you, and if they were teaching you how to use Google and affiliate ads to advertise and market your OWN products or services to make your OWN business successful, they might actually do something legitimate and helpful. But instead, they are teaching you to make someone ELSE’S business successful and conning you into not realizing that. “We’ll hook you up with thousands of companies ready to employ you and who won’t turn you down” is really “We’ll hand you over to companies ready to use you for their own gain and who won’t turn down the chance to do so.”

Don’t Encourage These Scammers by Clicking or *gasp!* Buying
Open your eyes, people. The only ones benefiting from these so-called “data entry” jobs at home are: 1) the people selling the programs; and 2) the companies they “hook you up with” who simply take advantage of you while pretending to employ you. The system they’ve created certainly works, for THEM. YOU get caught in between them, and get screwed from both sides.

One Template, Many Sites
On two different sites belonging to two supposedly different companies, the same exact text appeared in the testimonials. WORD FOR WORD. Only the photos, names, and locations of the so-called “satisfied customers” were different. What they said on one site was repeated verbatim on the other. The testimonials were even in the same order on both sites!

As soon as I saw this, that was it. There was no way this couldn’t be a scam. And I couldn’t believe how lazy and unoriginal the scam was. Worse than the 50% coupon shtick. With the coupon, you might convince yourself that a site is simply copying another site’s tactic in order to be competitive. But the exact same testimonials from different people? Don’t they realize that someone looking around the web for a data entry job is going to visit various sites and sooner or later encounter this? Or do they really think that once you visit their site, you’ll swallow their pitch and sign up on the spot and not visit any other sites? They think you’re stupid. Don’t prove them right by signing up.

Not only did I find the two sites with identical testimonials from different people, I found a THIRD site with the same testimonials. That’s right, folks. THREE different sets of people, THREE different sets of photos, ONE set of text. See them here:

http://www.paidsurveysetc.com/
http://www.onlinebestsurveys.com/
http://www.paidsurveyetcc.com/

You won’t know whether to get angry or laugh.

But that’s not all. I found two sites which offer as proof of earnings IDENTICAL bar graphs that show the exact same figures for the exact same dates. Go to these two sites and scroll about halfway down each page:

http://www.online-data-entry-jobs.com/
http://www.work-at-home-jobs.tv/

You’ll see that they both use the very same graphic to show their Clickbank accounts. So, both Laura Kauth and Donna Richards made the exact same amount of money on the exact same dates during the second half of May, 2006. Both of these sites also use the very same image of a blue iMac with a dollar sign on its screen, and the text following this image is nearly identical on both sites. Indeed, much of the text on both sites, and the arrangement of topics throughout, is nearly identical.

The Enablers: Sites that Promote These Deceptive Programs
Something else I wanted to talk about are the so-called “review” sites which claim to steer you toward companies that are legit, a bunch of which I explored last night. They come right out and say that most of the work-at-home opportunities are scams, and then they claim they’ve done research and found the scant few that are not. And they’re willing to steer you in the right direction because of the goodness of their hearts.

This is nothing but a very clever and deceptive tactic which is in reality an extension of the original scam. These folks know that some people are wise enough to think, to analyze, to investigate, and that these people will figure it out on their own that the so-called job opportunity is a scam. The scammers can’t afford to let such people figure it out. They can’t afford to let people confirm their doubts on their own, because once the people do, that’s it, they’re gone. So they step in and short circuit this by admitting there are many scams, and confirm the people’s suspicion FOR them. They count on the people thinking, “Aha! I KNEW they were scams! I suspected it, and this guy has confirmed it! He’s fighting for truth, he’s trying to save me from falling for the scams. So if he recommends a site, he must be telling me the truth.” The scammer knows that once he’s got you thinking he’s on your side by confirming what you already suspected and rescuing you, he’ll have your trust. And once he has your trust, he can scam you to his heart’s content. Saving you from falling into the hole in front of you, he can steer you right into the hole next to you.

These review sites are all over the place. One guy proclaimed he could prove he wasn’t a scammer because he wasn’t asking for money. He was steering you to the “legit” opportunities and asking nothing in return. Why would he lie, if there’s nothing in it for him? There’s no reason to lie if there’s no incentive, right? So he must be telling the truth. That makes sense, doesn’t it? WRONG. Asking for money is not the only component of a scam. When I read this guy’s assurance that he was on the level because he wasn’t asking for money, I immediately thought, “Yeah, but how do I know you’re not getting money from scammers you’re steering victims to? You can refrain from asking ME for money because you’re getting money from THEM. And how do I know you’re not the scammer yourself, pretending to be someone else professing to have found a legit site and steering me to your own site?” [These promotional "review" sites are affiliates of the "data entry" programs, and they make a commission every time one of their readers clicks a link and signs up.]

This trick can work because people equate “scam” with someone taking their money. The assumption is: If no taking of money is involved, it must be on the level. You need to realize that no taking of money is involved in this trick because this trick is basically just Part One of the scam. The taking of money happens in Part Two, and the only purpose of Part One is to lead you right into Part Two. It’s like the game of three card monte, which is run by TWO con artists working in concert. One guy plays the game and wins to make you think YOU can win, but he’s in on the scam all along.

Thanks for the terrific points, Laz Rojas. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Let me add, however, that there ARE legitimate data entry jobs to be found online. I know because I had one. Entered subscription information from cards into an Excel spreadsheet. But I didn’t find it by searching for “data entry jobs” through Google. I found it at Craig’s List. Our ebook tells you all about how to use Craig’s List to find real work. Go get yours now. You can decide how much to pay—from $2.50 to $1,000,000.

i tried dataentry business for my son who wanted to make some money while he was studying in London. the thing is a scam and we found this ou the hard way when we checked our credid card account and found that yahoosearch had started deducting 30.00 every 3 days from our account via paypal. He was hesitant at first and wondered why they wanted his credit card account before signing up, but we thought that it was so that he could be paid. I had to put a block on my account so that even i cannot use it now.. i called yahoosearch and they promised to refund my money. however when i tried to contact dataentry business for my $49.95 refund, they sent me that same letter which they sent Julia. aparently, Yahoosearch did indeed tried to contact us to discuss the problem. and when i called them concerning cancellation and refunding the paypal deductions they promised to comply. they have not yet done so. now i am convinced that there really is no legitimate dataentry business online. cant you do somethiig about ths. why must people get away with this kind of scam.

There should indeed be something we can do. I’ll spend some time looking into that this week. Meanwhile, keep ALL your guard up when searching for opportunities online, and look at these ways to educate and protect yourself:

What YOU can do
Scams like this one thrive on ignorance and emotional appeal. You can help put these guys out of business by spreading the word about this post and the dirty tricks of scammers that want to kick you when you’re down. Help us get the word out:

1. Share this post by clicking on the “Share This” link below
2. Learn more about this and other online scams by reading the Related Posts below
3. Report fraudulent activity at Scam Victims United and to your local police

These are the most popular scambusting articles at I’ve Tried That, as determined by page loads and search engine traffic. Why not subscribe to our feed so you don’t miss anything?

• Data entry jobs: Stay Away from Dataentrybusiness.com—This review has saved lots of people $50. Will you be one of them?
• Data Entry Jobs: Fusion Cash Review—Same pig, different lipstick. Don’t sign up for anything that has “data entry” in the title.
• Is InboxDollars a Scam? Can you get paid to read emails?—Probably not. Some people do, but Inbox Dollars is known for cancelling accounts for no reason just as the minimum payout is reached.
• SurveyLot.com (and MySurvey.com): $1000 per week taking surveys?—Not in this lifetime.
• Is Agloco Another Get Paid to Surf Scam?—We have high hopes, but the program has yet to pay out.
• SaveOnGasCards.com Does Not Deliver (also tryitforgas.com and CP Deals)—Sadly, there’s no such thing as a free tank of gas.
• Project Payday Review: Complete one free sponsor offer to access this review—They don’t mean your Payday, silly!
• Don’t get scammed again: Free product and program reviews? Hardly—Is Mark Hodges the most obnoxious online presence (now that Rich Jerk has gone down in flames)? Steve thinks so.
• Cashcrate.com Review: It’s a really small crate.—You won’t get rich, but Cashcrate.com is less objectionable than some other programs like it.
• Googlepack Review—Free, high-quality software. Does it get any better on a family-friendly site?
• Snoskred on Fake Checks Scam—Scambaiter extraordinaire Snoskred guest posted on I’ve Tried That. Learn all about fake check scams and avoid the traps.
• Fake Checks from Surveylot.com—They’re not really from Surveylot.com, but lots of fake checks are surfacing.
• A Money-saving No Brainer: Entertainment Books—Free money? Yes, please.
• John Chow’s eBook—The Holy Chow gives away for free what other, lesser-known people are charging for: an ebook about how to make money with your website or blog.

Dear Richard,
We thank you for your interest shown in our program Dataentrybusiness.
We accept onetime joining fee of $49.95 upfront. This fee ensures that we maintain the quality of our workforce high.
You don’t need any prior experience to work entering data, access to the internet is all that is needed. You can simply follow our step by step guide and work whenever you want for how long you want. You will be in control of your own working hours, the more you work the more you earn. We have many students, work from home moms and retired men and women who are making extra cash, We lead you by hand to earning a substantial income online!Check out this page, it includes just a handful of the pics we receive from members who are earning with our program User Submissions
We offer a money back guarantee, if for any reason you are not happy please email us for a full refund, All we ask is that before you request a refund, you give our system a fair try, you will make money. There is no risk!
Hope this information will clarify your apprehension before joining our program. So visit our site http://www.dataentrybusiness.com , go through the instructions and click on “Register Now” Button and get started.We look forward to having you aboard soon. Please feel free to get back to us for any further clarifications.Regards
DEB
Support Team

Dear Deb,
Do you mind if I call you Deb? Deborah seems so formal, LOL.
See, I don’t have any apprehensions about joing the program. I just don’t got $50. And I know that’s your fee and policy and stuff and like you said, you have to make sure you have a quality work force. But I’m offering to pay you lots more than $50.
Okay, you drive a hard bargain Deb. I could maybe swing $25, and offer you 50% of my first month’s pay! That’s a lot more than the $50 member fee, and you’ll know I’m a quality work force because I could do like 10 forms a day like I said in my last email. I type really good and 10 forms like the one you showed on your internet page would be like NOTHING for me. AND all my friends will want to join up after they see all the money I’m making, so you’ll make even more money from me. And I won’t tell them about our “special deal,” LOL.

Write back soon.

rW (I always sign my initials like that just to keep things on the down low)

I was so excited to find your website! Thankyou thankyou thankyou! It’s a beautiful thing your doing, showing pipple how to make money so they can live our dreams.

I can’t wait to get started but I don’t got $50. Would you take $15 plus 20 percent of what I earn my first month from your forms system? I could do like 10 forms a day so that’s way over the $7000 a month your website said. That’s more like $8000 a month so 20 percent of that would be waaaaaay more than $50.

Please write back soon. 

thanks

Richard Williams