In the case of surveys - Well yes it can! But, is it worth all the hassle? You must have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and of the trustworthy sites that you will get paid from and what amounts you are likely to make. Writing Blogs? We'll see! I also look at Paid to Read and some other Affiliate Programs

Sunday, 9 September 2007

Paid to Read Scams

I think some of the scams running in Paid to Read are now coming to light. The two that concern me the most are InternationalMoneyBux.com and Topbux.com.

InternationalMoneyBux

InternationalMoneyBux.com opened for a few days and no doubt got lots of sign ups but the site has just been showing a message showing that there is a server problem for ages now. What concerns me is that the owner of the site has taken money from advertisers and those choosing to pay to upgrade and then just moved on to the next scam. From the Whois database the details are:

Registrant:
International Money Bux
VIA COLLODI, 1
Gassino Torinese, n 10090
IT

Registrar: NAMESDIRECT
Domain Name: INTERNATIONALMONEYBUX.COM
Created on: 08-AUG-07
Expires on: 08-AUG-08
Last Updated on: 08-AUG-07

Administrative, Technical Contact:
Sergio, Richard sergio.richard@poste.it
International Money Bux
VIA COLLODI, 1
Gassino Torinese, n 10090
IT
39 335 597-2903

I have emailed asking for reasons for the problems but had no response. Not that I expected any! Before joing any new sites check the Whois for details in case this joker is involved again. Why not e-mail and ask for details yourself if only to annoy his host.

TopBux

On Topbux added to the Browse Ads page is the note:

Note: If you cannot see much ads, please consider upgrade. Advertisers recent activity shows that they are targetting premium members. upto 90% ads goes to Premium members. TopBux prefers Premium_Pack_1.

The minimum price for the upgrade is $59. Now that represents an awful lot of clicks to be made and I am guessing that those who bought referrals are now finding that not many are getting ads to click on unless they have themselves upgraded. I'm advising everyone to steer well clear of this as the likelihood is that only a very few people will ever reach the payout level.

Sadly in this case the registrant cannot be identified as the domain is anonymously hosted by a provider BlueHost.com in Orem, Utah, USA. By the way I've seen loads of ads for them on Traffic Exchanges lately - could they be one and the same?

Let me know if you suspect any other scams - remember IF THE OFFER LOOKS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT PROBABLY IS.


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