Are Paid Surveys Legitimate?

A lot of people are discouraged by the potential of paid survey sites to help you earn money. There is no doubt that a lot of paid survey sites these days are just created with the intent of tempting and luring people with their offers to make them pay. Since these fraudulent websites seem frighteningly real, it has become fairly difficult to differentiate the legitimate ones from the fake ones. Keep in mind however that there are real companies which offer well-paying paid surveys, so there is absolutely no need to get your hopes down. Listed below is a guide on how to determine legitimate paid survey sites from scams.

When you see a company advertising free online surveys, you can bet that these are the ones which are legit. If you encounter a site which asks you to pay to gain access of their surveys or requires you to key in your credit card information to complete your registration, you can be sure that this is a scam. All legitimate survey sites do not require a membership or application fee. All they need from you is some of your information to make sure that you qualify and meet their requirements. Always be alert though. Some fraudulent websites allow you to complete their registration without any membership fee or application fee but hits you with an offer later on that will require you to pay or give out your account information. When this happens, just simply cancel your account with them and unsubscribe to their emails.

Before you sign up at any paid survey sites, it is important that you read their terms and conditions, as well as their privacy policies. Once you have listed down the companies that interest you, the next thing to do is to do your own research. Check how long those companies have been in business--the longer the time the companies have been present, the more you can be sure that they are legitimate. Once you find a company which just seems to come up from nowhere, erase it from your list and move on. After checking how long they have been conducting business, the next thing to look out for is their business history at the Better Business Bureau. Not only are their ratings shown in this Bureau but also complaints filed against them. Businesses with an A- or above rating can be considered legit, reliable and very trustworthy.

Another useful tip that you should do before signing up at online survey providers is to read reviews about them on forums. User reviews are very important because they can share first hand experiences and real-world insight that these sites do not claim on their websites. By going through these forums, you will find out how much they are actually getting paid, how often they receive surveys, what kind of surveys they answer, how the companies compensate them, do the companies pay on time, etc. However, make sure that you keep an open mind while reading these claims. Do not let one bad experience with the company that you like prevent you from signing up. On the other hand though, if you find that not only one person experienced the same issue, and then you might as well back away and look for another survey site. In addition, when reading reviews, make sure that you consider the date. There may be complaints way back in 2008 that may have been resolved now which should not cloud your judgment. Thus, make sure that you only consider the complaints that have been recently filed.

In general, legitimate paid surveys do exist. Just make sure that you keep in mind the things you need to do and the things you need to watch out for so that you do not fall for scams. Have you found a legitimate paid survey site? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! About the Author

Author is involved in conducting online surveys for money. He has enrolled with the online community that lends opportunity to take online surveys and get paid for it.