Spot Affiliate Marketing Home Business Scams

In today's tough times with people losing brick and mortar jobs by the tens of thousands many individuals are turning to the money making potential of the Internet to try and make some extra cash or earn a living.

Even though there are great opportunities to be had on the Internet for those looking to make their living from it, one must also be careful with those unscrupulous companies that target people trying to use the Internet to make money.

Though many might think that fraud does not exist in the affiliate marketing arena I can tell you that it does from personal experience. Though it may not be possible to know all the ways that you can be scammed as an affiliate marketer, there are certain things to look for to reduce your risk on being taken for a ride.


One of the first things I usually do when I have a question about an affiliate program I want to promote or purchase is to Google the program. Use something like "affiliate site name" with the word scam, ripoff, review appended to the search and examine the various sites that pop up.

You may also Google scam review sites and go to the sites and do an inquiry about the program you're looking to promote. People that have been taken by a scam site will post their complaints on such sites.

I also check with the Better Business Bureau, though this isn't as good you can see if there are complaints and how many there are and if they have been resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer (affiliate).


When examining posted reviews of an affiliate program way the good against the bad. If there are more good reviews then bad, the program may be one you may want to take part in.

Ask the website owner for the names and address of users of the program so that you can contact them and get their actual feedback. Even a lot of sites have testimonials on them this is something that could just have been developed for the website.

If you can not find much affiliate information or any information on a program use caution especially if the program has been around for a while. Since people must be staying away from it for a reason.


Another thing you should avoid doing is jumping on the latest hot affiliate program. If the affiliate program is still there after a few months then the odds are good that the program is fulfilling a need and you can still make money from it.

Take note that an affiliate program should not cost you to join and start promoting the affiliate programs. Now this is not to say that all affiliate programs that may charge you a fee are looking to rip you off. Some choose to make it pay based so that they can attract experienced marketers and avoid the newbies that won't generate sales.

This may be particularly true if the program is very expensive and the commission payout is quite high.

To help protect yourself I generally recommend that instead of going with a company that has it's own affiliate program you join and affiliate network and then find affiliate programs to promote that are managed in the network.



So remember that in order to protect yourself as an affiliate marketer do your homework; this means research programs your interested in and get feed back from other users of the program. Look for decent track record, that they payout and that they pay on time.


If your looking to get into affiliate marketing I recommend you visit my Money Maker Cash Blog; which has over 1900 articles for you to review.