Internet Scams

We are living in a digital commerce age, and unfortunately Internet Scams are a part of the world that is the Internet. As a trained Investigator, I am going to look at some of the problems we face with scams on the Internet.

What is a Scam?

I know the answer to that question seems quite simple to most, but is it really that simple?

I find it interesting, if not disturbing that the term “scam” has been used so much that it has lost its meaning.

Merriam-Webster simply defines a scam as: “A dishonest way to make money by deceiving people” but it goes much deeper than that.

In order for something to qualify as a scam, there must be some sort of theft involved. This can be theft of products, services, or ID in order to steal money, or something of monetary value from the victim.

In order to find out if something is really a scam or not, we must understand what does not qualify as a scam.

What Does not Qualify as Internet Scams?

The first one I am going to talk about is huge, that is selling information. Selling information is not illegal, if that were the case, then Universities and Publishers all over the world would be guilty of this scam.

Personal Failure: I see this all the time over the internet. People will buy into a program (mostly biz-ops), and then for some reason fail and cry scam. Just because a person fails does not mean the program is a scam.

Network Marketing, MLM, or Direct Sales are legal marketing concepts and business opportunities. This business model is taught in universities all over, it also was part of one of my Communications courses.

Legality Issues: There are many things on the Internet that are restricted or unavailable in certain countries. This does not necessarily mean that it is a scam. I advise anyone to obey the laws in your country, but just because the U.S. decided that it is not good for you, does not necessarily mean it is a scam.

Just a note; there is more to the above descriptions, but that is not the purpose of this article, so we will move on to the biggest Internet scam (in my opinion).

The Biggest Internet Scams

There is a reason why I used that phrase (in my opinion) which I will explain in a moment.

There are a lot of people out there that will write an article claiming a certain product or service is a scam in order to drive traffic and sales to their product or service.

This is a tactic used to trick you, and the search engines. Think about this; you are doing a Google search on product ABC for more information, and the suggestion drop down (while you are typing the name for Product ABC) produces “Product ABC scam” What are you going to click?

Naturally we will click the scam search suggestion, because nobody wants to get scammed.

Most likely when you start clicking and reading the “reviews” you will discover one of 2 things.

Either they are trying to promote the product that they claim to be a scam in their title, or they are trying to discredit that product in order to sell you on their product.

So if Internet scams must include some sort of theft in order to be claimed a scam, then why do I consider these tactics to be scams? Nothing lost right?

Wrong, and that is the trouble. You got deceived into thinking you were going to get real information about Product ABC, but you did not. These scammers have just stolen your time, and the traffic, if not a sale from the original product owner or affiliate.

This could also technically fall under the category of “false advertisement”.

The Internet’s Most Trusted Scam Buster

The Internet’s Most Trusted Scam Buster is (in my opinion) a scammer himself. He is really good at stealing traffic, and discrediting honest businesses.

If you do a Google Search on him, you will not find much information, but I happen to know that he is NOT qualified to be an investigator.

If you have a program or product that you want me to check, please leave a comment below. I will do an initial check for free with a positive comment here on my site.

You can also visit my scam buster site for more information on Internet scams. I have not been keeping up with that site because it seems no one cares if they get scammed, true fact.

Thank you, and have a great day!!