Scamwatch reports that almost 500 million dollars were lost to scams in 2023. It’s more than most companies make in a year. One of the methods of scamming people online is employment scams. A significant amount of them are paid survey scams.
This is a really unfortunate situation as people who are looking to earn money end up actually losing it. If you are thinking about making money online with paid surveys, you should get to know these risks. Here, I will uncover the four most common paid survey scams you should know.
Why paid survey participants are vulnerable?
Every person who is actively looking for a job is vulnerable to getting tricked. In many cases, such people are desperate to earn income. Their livelihood may depend on it. They are willing to sacrifice their money, time, or other resources for this cause. Such vulnerability applies to many areas of job search, but potential paid survey participants are at the biggest risk.
Paid surveys, as well as other online means of earning money, want an easy, low-skill, and high-income method. If it sounds too good to be true already, that’s because it is. When you look for a traditional job, you have a more modest expectation, but paid survey platforms, even legitimate ones, create unrealistic expectations.
It’s true that your opinion is valuable. Companies invest millions of dollars in various surveys to collect data for developing new products or improving old ones. Gathering opinions is easier on platforms that help multiple companies to perform such research. Money is paid for survey platforms, and they can compensate survey participants.
But the amount you can earn by completing online surveys is nowhere near the earnings you could expect from a traditional job. One survey takes at least 20 minutes to complete, and, at best, you’ll be paid a couple of dollars for it. Even if you register for a dozen survey platforms, you can’t expect to consistently receive more than a few daily surveys.
People who do not manage their expectations and want to ‘game the system’ by getting more well-paid surveys are the main target of scammers. Paid surveys are an easy way to earn money. Anyone who received at least a couple of dollars from them has thought that it would be great to scale it. That’s where the scam methods come in.
The four most common paid survey scams
Stealing your personal data
Personal data protection awareness has increased significantly in the past years. The media is full of news about data leaks, the topic is taught in schools, and many countries have laws protecting personal information. Yet, giving away your personal data for an opportunity to earn money seems safe for some.
Every survey platform will ask you for some demographic information – age, gender, nationality, etc. But no legitimate platform will try to identify you exactly with your social security number or other personally identifiable information (PII). Scammers create fake survey platforms and then collect such data en masse.
Depending on how much of your information they gather, they can insert you into a spam list, impersonate you online, or violate your privacy in other ways. The damage can range from a few spam emails to changed log-ins at your bank. Never provide PII to sources you don’t trust.
Pay for sign-up
The common saying – ‘you need to spend money to earn money’ doesn’t apply to paid survey platforms. No legitimate survey platform will ask you to pay money to register or receive ‘premium’ benefits, more surveys, or anything else. You came to the platform to earn money, so treat it as an employer.
However, there is a deeper reason why legitimate platforms never ask you to pay. The companies ordering surveys want unbiased opinions from demographics of interest to them. Subscription payments ruin the opinion pool. If a platform asks you to pay for something, they aren’t interested in your unbiased opinion. They need your money.
Asking for payment card details
A similar variation to the payment scam is asking for credit card details. Scammers might try to justify it by some rules for identification or lie to you that it’s the only way to make a payment for your surveys.
It’s widely considered a general rule of the internet – never provide payment card details to websites you don’t trust. Otherwise, you risk getting charged one day. Canceling such payments might be extremely difficult at the bank.
If you have doubts, a good strategy is to have a virtual payment card that isn’t linked to your main bank account. Even if scammers try to charge it, they won’t reach your main bank account.
High payout thresholds
The most subtle paid survey scam is with platforms that actually have some surveys, but they are just unwilling to pay for them. Of course, their marketing might say otherwise, but that’s where the scam lies.
Always read the terms and conditions when registering. There are real rules for receiving payouts. Some sketchy survey platforms hide the earnings behind confusing point systems and then raise the payout thresholds to hundreds of dollars. Some even stop giving you surveys when you are close to receiving the payment.
Reputable survey platforms
The prospect of earning money from online surveys might seem grim after hearing about these scams. I must assure you that there are some legitimate platforms allowing you to earn money with paid surveys. Below are three examples with payout methods and thresholds listed.
- Pawns.app – $5 payout threshold for bank transfers and various gift cards.
- Swagbucks – $25 payout threshold, pays PayPal.
- PrizeRebel – $5 payout threshold for gift cards.
Conclusion
I’m sure there are many more ways one can get scammed when trying to earn extra money from online surveys. But the main rules for avoiding scams remain the same – stay vigilant and manage your earning expectations. With these two tips, you will be able to earn some extra cash from paid surveys.
