By Chris Brown of Daylight Consulting
Firstly,
THERE ARE NO HIDDEN SECRETS.
Any site promising to share a secret with you is likely to be a scam. All the information to make money from the internet is already out there, freely available on sites like this one and many others.
Secondly,
YOU WILL NEED TO PUT IN A BIT OF EFFORT
Any site telling you you can do practically nothing and still get rich is probably a scam.
Thirdly,
BEWARE OF GUARANTEES
"Make £1million in a year! - free"
If you see that sort of headline, be on your guard. Nobody just gives away a secret like that? The free information is almost always an extended advert for a book of 'secrets' for which you will pay good money. The book will be largely worthless and you will have been duped.
Make 400 dollars NEXT WEEK! - this second scam is really nasty, because they are preying on the really needy who HAVE to get money in a hurry. It starts off with a free 'course' of a few more salesy emails, but soon they will ask for just a small sum. Don't pay it because you will never see your money again. The crooks know people will give them a few dollars in order to get hundreds, but won't go to the police because they are embarrassed and it was only a little money. Well, getting just a little money from lots of people is what the scammers are looking to do.
Nigerian 419
Beware of crooked deals - The email from an African bank offering a share of millions being exported from some war torn part of the world can be alluring, but the scammers will want to know your bank details so they can pay you. If you give them the details, money will come out of your account rather than go in. This scam is so well known to the authorities it actually has a name! It is called the 'Nigerian 419' (named after the section of the Nigerian criminal code being broken).