How to Spot PTC Scams
Due to the roaring success of PTC programs, fraudulent PTC sites which are run by scamming people populate the internet. According to some, 99% of the PTC industry is a scam. I’d say that’s way too many. We can’t be completely sure how many of these programs are scams, but for someone to exaggerate it in such proportions is reason enough that scams are flagrant in the PTC business.
If there’s one thing for sure, PTC programs don’t last forever. Most of them last only a few months. They appear legit in the beginning then end up scamming their members when they disappear all of a sudden. They disappear because of two reasons: they were really setup to scam people; or the site admin can’t maintain the site anymore. Hence, knowing when a PTC site will eventually disappear is a valuable skill a PTC user should acquire.
How then can you avoid being scammed? Here is a list which could help you spot the most likely candidates of turning into scam.
1) First things first. Like what I’ve said in my previous article about how to find the best paid to click programs, check if the site is in any scam list. There are people who are dedicated on tracking these scamming sites and they make lists and PTC updates to warn people about the scams. For starters, google something like ptc scams or ptc scam list to find them. You could also check out GPT boycott and scam.com for the same matter. Check PTC forums. No, not those within the PTC itself, I mean those forums dedicated to talking about PTCs. Take PTCTalk and TalkPTC for example. They’re oozing with the latest about PTCs and their owners.
2) Joining PTC programs should be free. If it requires a fee to join it’s definitely a scam.
3) Check out the pay rates of the company. Legitimate sites typically pay $0.01 or $0.02 for a click. If the company advertises extravagant rates such as $1 to $10 per click, it is 100% scam.
4) Advertising rates must give justice to the rate per click. If the advertising price is too low in contrast to the value of your click, the site is not sustainable and will eventually have payment delays later on.
5) Verify the payout limit of the site. An ideal company should have a payout limit of $10 or less. Bigger payout limits mean longer clicking time for you before you could cash out. Most scammers use bigger payout limits to provide them ample time to collect more souls to fool and prepare for their escape plan.
6) Check what options the company provides for payouts. The usual ones are payment processors like Paypal and Alertpay. Try to avoid the cheques because you can never be too sure if it will come or not. You only have their words as guarantee. Also, check if the site is Paypal verified. Any site which doesn't pass the tough guidelines of Paypal has always the risk of turning scam.
7) When do you get paid? Although there are exceptions, when it’s more than 30 days, it could turn out a scam. Reason for this is that they can’t afford to pay you instantly so they hold your payment request until they accumulate the amount from advertisers or from their own members. When there are constant delays, it just means that the site is either running into money problems (which could just disappear all of a sudden) or is simply a scam. Either way, you’ll still end up losing your end of the bargain.
8) They must have a forum or a support contact info. Make sure that the company has a dedicated helpline that responds to your queries all the time. If they don’t have one, it’s a scam. If they don’t reply to your queries, it’s also a scam.
9) A site must have its FAQ and terms of service at least. No FAQ or TOS means scam. Don’t forget to read their TOS also. Sometimes, scam sites make loopholes in their rules and guidelines to fool you better. Some sites pay their upgraded members only, others don’t pay some countries, while others use this “profit sharing model” where the earnings you incurred is only a representation and your actual earnings is much smaller. Stay away from sites with weird and tricky rules.
10) Check whether the company is properly registered. Use domain look up services in the net. First, take a look at whois information. There you will see the name, e-mail and other information about the administrator. A PTC that uses PrivacyProtect.org or somehow hides info cannot be trusted. Take the name and do a search in forums for a good or bad reference. To find whois info, go to whois.domaintools.com and paste the name of the site.
11) Site that goes on and off and often have maintenance issues can be suspected as scam.
12) Never trust a site that runs under a free domain or a sub domain or free host. No money to pay host equals no money to pay you. Generally they are free for one or three months, so the PTC disappears after this time.
13) Generally, PTC sites with referral earnings equal to or below 50% will last longer. Sites that offer more or even 100% earnings from your referral clicks often end up bankrupt after a few months. There are exceptions of course but always be careful with sites like these as they might just disappear anytime.
14) They should not run the “admin sponsored” or “self promotion” ads forever. A site can survive only if they get external advertisers. If a PTC is always running more admin sponsored ads against external advertisers, it’s always a sign that they might close anytime due to lack of incoming revenue from external source.
If there’s one thing for sure, PTC programs don’t last forever. Most of them last only a few months. They appear legit in the beginning then end up scamming their members when they disappear all of a sudden. They disappear because of two reasons: they were really setup to scam people; or the site admin can’t maintain the site anymore. Hence, knowing when a PTC site will eventually disappear is a valuable skill a PTC user should acquire.
How then can you avoid being scammed? Here is a list which could help you spot the most likely candidates of turning into scam.
1) First things first. Like what I’ve said in my previous article about how to find the best paid to click programs, check if the site is in any scam list. There are people who are dedicated on tracking these scamming sites and they make lists and PTC updates to warn people about the scams. For starters, google something like ptc scams or ptc scam list to find them. You could also check out GPT boycott and scam.com for the same matter. Check PTC forums. No, not those within the PTC itself, I mean those forums dedicated to talking about PTCs. Take PTCTalk and TalkPTC for example. They’re oozing with the latest about PTCs and their owners.
2) Joining PTC programs should be free. If it requires a fee to join it’s definitely a scam.
3) Check out the pay rates of the company. Legitimate sites typically pay $0.01 or $0.02 for a click. If the company advertises extravagant rates such as $1 to $10 per click, it is 100% scam.
4) Advertising rates must give justice to the rate per click. If the advertising price is too low in contrast to the value of your click, the site is not sustainable and will eventually have payment delays later on.
5) Verify the payout limit of the site. An ideal company should have a payout limit of $10 or less. Bigger payout limits mean longer clicking time for you before you could cash out. Most scammers use bigger payout limits to provide them ample time to collect more souls to fool and prepare for their escape plan.
6) Check what options the company provides for payouts. The usual ones are payment processors like Paypal and Alertpay. Try to avoid the cheques because you can never be too sure if it will come or not. You only have their words as guarantee. Also, check if the site is Paypal verified. Any site which doesn't pass the tough guidelines of Paypal has always the risk of turning scam.
7) When do you get paid? Although there are exceptions, when it’s more than 30 days, it could turn out a scam. Reason for this is that they can’t afford to pay you instantly so they hold your payment request until they accumulate the amount from advertisers or from their own members. When there are constant delays, it just means that the site is either running into money problems (which could just disappear all of a sudden) or is simply a scam. Either way, you’ll still end up losing your end of the bargain.
8) They must have a forum or a support contact info. Make sure that the company has a dedicated helpline that responds to your queries all the time. If they don’t have one, it’s a scam. If they don’t reply to your queries, it’s also a scam.
9) A site must have its FAQ and terms of service at least. No FAQ or TOS means scam. Don’t forget to read their TOS also. Sometimes, scam sites make loopholes in their rules and guidelines to fool you better. Some sites pay their upgraded members only, others don’t pay some countries, while others use this “profit sharing model” where the earnings you incurred is only a representation and your actual earnings is much smaller. Stay away from sites with weird and tricky rules.
10) Check whether the company is properly registered. Use domain look up services in the net. First, take a look at whois information. There you will see the name, e-mail and other information about the administrator. A PTC that uses PrivacyProtect.org or somehow hides info cannot be trusted. Take the name and do a search in forums for a good or bad reference. To find whois info, go to whois.domaintools.com and paste the name of the site.
11) Site that goes on and off and often have maintenance issues can be suspected as scam.
12) Never trust a site that runs under a free domain or a sub domain or free host. No money to pay host equals no money to pay you. Generally they are free for one or three months, so the PTC disappears after this time.
13) Generally, PTC sites with referral earnings equal to or below 50% will last longer. Sites that offer more or even 100% earnings from your referral clicks often end up bankrupt after a few months. There are exceptions of course but always be careful with sites like these as they might just disappear anytime.
14) They should not run the “admin sponsored” or “self promotion” ads forever. A site can survive only if they get external advertisers. If a PTC is always running more admin sponsored ads against external advertisers, it’s always a sign that they might close anytime due to lack of incoming revenue from external source.
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