OFFLINE

Some general guidance on posts in the Making Money Online forums:

There are many honest ways of generating money using the Internet. However, there are many more underhanded schemes and traps out there. The most important thing to remember is common sense. If something sounds too good to be true - it is. With that in mind, here are a few things to help you in both making posts here and to bear in mind when reading posts here. This post will progressively be updated in the future.

Do not post something you have not tried personally
It is important not to post information on money making opportunities that you are not actively involved in. You should be able to provide a clear description of what is involved, how money is actually generated and how payments are handled.

Do not post pyramid schemes - even if you have been able to make some money with one
Pyramid schemes are (in many countries) illegal, they are also nothing more than scams to empty money from the pockets of people who usually are in a bad financial position. If you are not sure if something is a pyramid scheme, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Am I in control of what I do, or is my purpose mainly to recruit other people to buy into the system?
- If your main goal is supposed to be recruitment, it is very likely this is a pyramid scam.
2. Is there an actual product or service that is being sold?
- If your income is based on the commissions from selling the 'system', it is a pyramid scam. If there is not an actual tangible product or service being sold, it is very likely to be a pyramid scam.
3. How does the company/individual running this 'system' make money?
- If their primary source of income appears to be from the signing up of people like you, it is going to be a pyramid scam.

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) is a valid form of business providing it is not for the purposes of a pyramid scheme
Firstly, it is important to understand the difference between multi-level marketing and a pyramid scheme, as they can often appear to be very similar.
1. A pyramid scheme's only purpose is to funnel money from people that join the scheme up to people who joined earlier and to the people who set up the scheme.
2. A pyramid scheme's primary source of revenue is usually from the fee charged to people to join the scheme.
3. Multi-level marketing systems make their revenue from selling tangible products or services.
4. Multi-level marketing often rewards you with a percentage of the profit made on sales made by other marketeers you have recruited, but rarely for the actual recruitment of marketeers.
5. Pyramid scams that pretend to be multi-level marketing often say that they are not pyramid scams because you only earn commission on two or three levels of people you introduce. This is not true, and if a system tries to convince you it isn't a pyramid scam, the chances are that it is.

Be careful of gambling scams
There are a number of people making money from pretending to be an authority on gambling. Often these involve getting someone to sign up to online gambling websites. There is nothing wrong with "Affiliate Selling" (that is to say being paid for having people buy or sign up to a product or service). However, many people have taken to using out and out lies to promote those sales. The most prolific one I have seen of late (but which has been going on for years) is for roulette. This is the bet on black each time, doubling your stake until you win, then switch to doing the same on red.

Yes it is possible to make money from gambling, if you are good at it. But don't be suckered into thinking that it is easy, or without significant risk. If you attempt gambling, ONLY **** with money you can afford to lose.