Avoid Get Paid to Read scams

When the job market got scary in the early part of this decade, a lot of people started looking online for ways to make some extra money. Most people realize “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, but desperation and fear can make sensible people do less than sensible things.

The internet is full of scams,particularly the “Make $80,000,000 a month from home while working in your pajamas” type. Right now there’s also a “Google paid me $X” one going around – don’t believe it. People do make money from running Google ads on websites, but the program behind that ad is only trying to make money for itself. Another popular ad I’m seeing lately are the ones claiming stay at home moms are making kajillions from home – while some stay at home moms do make money online, these programs are not going to teach you how to do that. They’re making money for themselves.

But one of the most egregious internet scams that stood out to me particularly was the “Get paid to read” phenomenon. Companies sprang up all over the place, usually on ugly, unprofessional websites. They claimed that advertisers paid them to send email ads to people who had expressed interest in their type of products, and for signing up, you’d get a few cents or a portion of a cent for every email you read.

The Get Paid to Read Scams (also known as GPTR or PTR) promise to pay people after they’ve accrued a certain amount of earnings. They will typically pay once or twice to get people believing it works. Then, the payments are a little bit late, but they send out friendly emails explaining the cash was a little short this month or they had to go stay with Aunt Erma for a week. Then the payments get later and later, and then they stop. And even then, many of these webmasters claim the problems weren’t their fault, close shop and start a new scam, and take in a whole new group of suckers. It’s really sad, but most of the believers are people who are poor, home-bound, or unemployed. It’s not that hard to see where they’re coming from.

Now the job market is scary all over again, and those programs are marketing themselves with a vengeance. But rather than just caution you not to waste your time with these guys, I am able to recommend one single company.

One of the legitimate sites that really does pay you a few cents to read emails or up to $1 or more to take surveys is InboxDollars. I joined that site years ago, and have earned at least $50 a year ever since. Not much money, but then it’s not hard to make either. It’s a fun way to earn a little mad money, pay a utility bill or two, have some extra Christmas cash or just stash a little extra into savings.

There are also some legitimate survey companies that pay you in cash or gifts to take surveys for them. The gifts can be valuable – free food items, or sometimes stuff you can sell on Craigslist or eBay, or stuff you can re-gift to people, thus saving the cost of buying a present.

Here’s a great source for legitimate services that pay you to take surveys. Some basic tips on judging whether a program is on the up-and-up:

Web site design looks professional.
It’s a corporation, not a stay at home webmaster trying to get chummy with you in personal emails about his dog’s worms and his surgery.
It’s been recommended by people you trust, and they really have been paid
The ads you get in email look like they’re from real, usually offline companies selling tangible products. Not online services, other GPTR services and intangible goods.
They never, ever suggest you could earn enough to quit your job. (Yes, the scammy ones do.)

Good luck, and don’t expect much. Legitimate email and survey companies can be fun, but they will never replace job income.

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