Online survey scams are on the rise; thus, it is necessary to do due diligence before committing to an online survey website. Having your survey account credited after every completed task does not make a survey website legit. Have you seen the news and read the forums? Many panelists cry foul after wasting months taking surveys only for the apps to crash when they tried withdrawing their earnings. Don’t be one of these victims.
Red Flags That Signify Scam Survey Websites
Scammers hide behind proxies to develop duplicate versions of original survey apps to run illegal data collection projects. The websites have features and functions like the legit ones. Hence, research is necessary to differentiate them. There are many illicit versions of genuine survey websites. However, such malicious sites have red flags you can’t ignore.
Unrealistic Promises
Scam survey websites make ridiculous promises, like awarding you $50 signup bonuses and paying highs of $20 per survey. But after you sign up, you must take hundreds of unpaid surveys to unlock the bonus. After obtaining the signup bonus, you may need to complete many more surveys to hit the minimum payout threshold. These are red flags you should never overlook.
If you must try your luck on websites with such ridiculous promises, get a glimpse of who they are and how genuine they are in the customer testimonials section. You’ll be astonished at the number of complaints and negative comments from other panelists.
No Information About the Site Owner
Legit market research firms offering online surveys that pay through mobile money are ever working to establish and maintain a good name in the industry. They want to help as many businesses and companies run successful data collection projects and understand what clients feel about their services and products. Therefore, they have no reason to operate behind proxies. If a survey website hides its identity and partner firms, it’s probably a scam.
Multiple Signup Pages
Legit survey websites operate independently, running market research projects from dedicated websites. Signups should take place within the dedicated company website. If a website redirects you to multiple signup pages when creating a panelist account, they may want to steal your information.
This merry-go-round registration method is to collect as much personal data as possible. Remember, illegitimate survey apps make money by gathering your data and selling it to third parties, and the more data you give, the more money they earn.
Requested Credit or Bank Information During Signup
Illegitimate survey websites ask for credit card and bank information during the account creation process. They ask you to pay a fee to access premium survey projects and earn more. Naïve panelists will jump for such useless offers, thinking they are dealing with genuine sites. However, surprises hit them when they sign up and never get paid for projects they complete.
As a worker, you should never pay to get a job; instead, you provide services to get paid. The same principle should apply to completing surveys. The only financial information you should provide is your PayPal email address or online payment account.
No Contact Information
The lack of contact information is the most apparent telltale of a fake site that will never help you generate income. How will their partners reach out to them? How do panelists inquire about site bugs and other technical issues? Are they in the business of serving themselves or their partners and panelists?
Any website with no contact email, phone number, or social media pages is a scam. Also, a site is likely fake if the available phone number never connects or goes unanswered for days. If the support team doesn’t respond to social media chats and emails, don’t trust the company. Ensure you only sign up for a survey panel that cherishes its panelists and partners.
Conclusion
Collecting goodies and cash in exchange for answering a few questions is not new. Paid surveys have existed for a while, and many companies have adopted them, with online channels being the latest upgrade. Companies conducting market research on services and products outsource their projects to trusted online survey panels. Unfortunately, while there are genuine survey panels, there are many unreliable ones, too. As long as you watch out for all the telltales of scams, you won’t fall into the trap.
