There are over 500 online companies offering money for people who want to work from home doing surveys and earn a full-time income.  Beware of such sites that promise you riches for nothing; they’re a scam.

While there are some legitimate sites that pay a few dollars to take a ten minute survey, there are others that are not legitimate.  Many of these sites simply exist to gather your personal information and sell it to telemarketing companies.  A few of them are downright scams that require a “sign-up” fee in exchange for the privilege of working from home.

One of the sites I’ve run across is workfromhome4dollars.com.  This site not only offers you “up to $75 an hour” for completing surveys in the privacy of your own home, it also advertises just about every “work from home” scam there is.  Most of these schemes are aimed at women who are trying to make a few extra dollars while staying home with the kids.

I’ve written many articles about paid surveys and was happy to find that there are some legitimate companies out there on the internet.  But I’m halfway intelligent and can usually smell a scam from a mile away (two miles on a clear day).  And as soon as I clicked on workfromhome4dollars.com, the stench overwhelmed me.

P.T. Barnum said there is a sucker born every minute.  Unfortunately, he was spot on in his assessment of human nature.  Sadly, there are many predators out there who are only too glad to take someone’s hard-earned money with the promise of a “get rich quick” scheme.

Workfromhome4dollars is only too glad to hook you up with surveys that promise to pay $5-$75 an hour.  For $34.95, the site will direct you to a survey site where you can participate in surveys.  What workfromhome4dollars.com doesn’t tell you is that these sites can be accessed by any individual with internet experience without paying a dime.

In addition to offering “opportunity” for paid surveys, workfromhome4dollars.com offers other “opportunities” such as “typing from home,” “medical transcription from home,” “data entry from home” and other schemes aimed mostly at uneducated women.  All of these “golden opportunities” cost the participant anywhere from $35 to $75 to enroll.

The site is merely a money making portal.  Of all the sites on the internet I’ve investigated while researching this topic, this is the worst.  I implore anyone who is interested in participating in paid surveys to beware of the following:

- Do not give out your credit card number, social security number or bank information to any online site.

- Beware of any site that promises “thousands of dollars a month” for working from home.  I’ve done a lot of research into paid surveys; if it were that easy, no one would work outside the home.

- Do not pay “upfront” for the privilege of doing a survey.  Legitimate companies will not ask for a fee.

- Paid surveys are a way to make supplemental income; not a living.  You can expect to make maybe $200 a month doing this.

- Before signing up for any online survey site, do a little bit of research.  The honest ones will tell you that you won’t make a lot of money and will have stringent privacy policies.

- Do not, under any circumstances, ever participate in any survey about health insurance.  I made this mistake once and now get about five calls a day from people trying to sell me health insurance.

- If you are participating in a survey and are directed to another website, do not feel you have to answer any questions on that site.  Many times there will be “fine print” that charges your telephone number for trying a product.  In addition to this, keep close tabs on your telephone bill.

- Each time you log on to your computer, clear your cookies.

Participating in paid surveys can be a fun way to earn a few extra dollars, gift cards or discount certificates.  Do not expect to “get rich” doing this.  And under no circumstances ever pay for the “privilege” of doing a survey.

Get paid to take surveys! Get paid for your opinion! Earn
up to $250 an hour taking surveys from your home computer!

Advertisements like these are popping up all over the place.
Classifieds, forums, newspapers, magazines, everywhere. But
the thing everyone wants to know is, "Is this real?".

The truth is… yes and no. Yes, you can actually make
money taking surveys online. No, you are not going to make
$4,500 a month doing it.

But, you can actually make some extra money every month.
$100 to $300 a month from paid surveys is not very hard to
reach. The problem is there are so many websites posing as
"paid survey" companies that it’s hard to find legitimate
resources.

In the following paragraphs I will give you step by step
instructions on how to get paid taking surveys online. In 3
simple steps you can easily be on your way to getting paid
for your opinion.

STEP 1: Finding a legitimate source for paid surveys

Finding a legitimate source of information is probably the
hardest part. There are several companies that pose as paid
surveys or market research companies that will only try to
sell you something or sell your email address to third parties.
There are also several paid survey directories that you can
join. These directories charge you up to $50 for information
that is available all over the internet for free. Never pay
for a paid surveys directory. Use the search engines to find
free directories. Or try a free directory like the one at
www.wahmservice.com

STEP 2: What Paid Survey Companies To Join

There are over 600 paid survey companies you can join.
Choosing the right ones are key to getting paid for taking
surveys. Some companies will send you one every few months
while others may send you invitations everyday. There are
about 20 paid survey sites you should join when first
starting. These companies send surveys regularly and by
joining them you can almost be sure to get at least 1 paid
survey a day. After signing up for these companies you can
come back later and sign up with other companies that send
less. But just with these 20 a hundred to a few hundred dollars
a month is not impossible. These companies are:
NFO My Survey, goZing Surveys, Global Test Market, Test Spin,
Survey Savvy, Survey Spot, American Consumer Opinion, E-Poll,
Poll Cast, ECN Research, Synovate Surveys, NPD Online Research,
Pinecone Research, Harris Poll, Lightspeed Research, Ipsos
Surveys, Opinion Outpost, Greenfield Online, Nielson/NetRatings,
Consumer Link…….

STEP 3: Check Your Email, Confirm Your Memberships

Some companies will send you emails asking you to confirm
your membership. Make sure you do this. Now all you have to
do is wait for paid survey invitations daily. Sometimes more.
None of the companies listed here will spam you or try to
get you to buy anything. They are all legitimate paid
survey companies. You will find that once you have taken a
few surveys you will start receiving more invitations.Once you
get the hang of it you can go back and find other companies
to join to increase your income.

About the author:
Chris Price is an expert on market research studies. He has participated in several paid surveys, focus groups, product tests, and mystery shops. Mr. Price is the owner of www.wahmservice.com, a directory of over 500 paid survey companies with reviews of each one.