The internet offers many ways of making money. There are many genuine websites, but there are also a huge number of scams as well. You need to be careful so that you do not end up in a scam. Unfortunately, it is very hard to differentiate between a genuine site & a scam site, by the time you find out, you have lost your valuable time & money. The scam sites are very "professional" in the way they create scams, this makes it very hard for a person to know if the site is genuine or not. The following pro-active measures will reduce your chances of getting scammed:

1. Never pay anybody to become a member of any "get paid to" website.
2. Once you have reached the minimum payment level, make a payment request.
3. These sites offer you a good way to make a decent additional income. A few people will be able to earn enough to make a living from these sites. If any site tells you you that you can become rich, then proceed with extreme caution.
4. Never provide your credit card number, debit card number, bank account details, SSN, etc to anywebsite. Many scamsters ask you to provide these details for "verification" purpose. They are only trying to get these details for misuse.
5. US law requires survey sites to ask for tax details once a person has earned over US$600 (this amount may vary from time to time) in a year. Provide this information only after you have earned this amount. Having paid this amount, the credibility of the site will not be in question.
6. Avoid sites which do not have any privacy policy.
7. Look at how long the company has been operational (working), the older the better. This is important as some sites will go out of business. If the site is relatively old, the chances of this happening is greatly reduced.
8. Do not join any paid to read email site which has a minimum payment amount of US$75 (or above). For survey sites, avoid sites which have a minimum payment amount of US$150 (or above). Such high payout requirement are not user friendly & reflect poorly on such websites.
9. If a site is offering you more than 35% of the your referral's income, be cautious such high referral payouts are not sustainable.
10. HYIP's (High Yield Investment Programs) tend to be scams. Avoid them. The chances of getting scammed is just too high.
11. Keep visiting www.123Angel.Com & www.GPTBoycott.Com to keep yourself updated.

Finally if you have had a bad experience, make sure you report it. By doing this you are helping other people avoid such sites. You can email us regarding such programmes.

Article written by the Chief Editor of www.123Angel.Com, a website which lists genuine online money making opportunities along with a wide variety of articles on making money online.