money making scams

Items to check for possible money making scams 

• You cant' find any earnings disclaimer, terms of service, or privacy policy on the website claiming to offer a money making opportunity. Typically you'll find these positioned as links at the bottom of the page. Most website promoting money making scams won't bother to have them. Why should they? Those items are their for legal reasons and someone running money making scams are already breaking the law anyhow!
• "Whois" informatoin is hidden in the website registration records. While there are legitimate reasons to hide registration information (I do it myself on some - but not all - of my sites), it certainly should be considered a factor in determining if something could be a scam.
  
  You can check out the whois information at sites such as http://whois.domaintools.com or www.betterwhois.com
  
  But remember whois records with "privacy guard" type features on them aren't by any means sure-fire indicators of money making scams at all - as there are legitimate reasons to keep contact information hidden on on those records (such as to avoid telemarketing/mail-order companies that gather phone numbers and mailing information from those records).
• The company's phone number looks like a regular phone number but is actually a pay-per-call number overseas (this red-flag applies especially to U.S. residents trying to avoid money making scams).
  
  You can read more about how scams using 809 numbers and other similar numbers work at the Federal Communications Commission site.
  
  The site mentions you should check the area code you're calling if you're not familiar with it, but doesn't say how.
  
  You can check the area codes at www.FoneFinder.net
• Many money making scams use private mail box services. Of course many completely legitimate businesses use private mail box services as well, but you should definitely consider this a possible red flag for money making scams.
  
  You can Click here to check MailBoxes, etc.'s Universal Store locator, although the smarter people running money making scams would probably use lesser known PMB services that don't have security precautions that are as tight as MailBoxes, etc.
  
  But once again, remember, as this article at the popular and well-respected site www.About.com points out Private Mailbox Services offer many legitimate advantages for small businesses.
• Beware of fake consumer protection websites. These are sites that pretend to be consumer protection websites, but in fact are often owned by the owner or promoter of the money making scam.