Scams and programs to avoid

Chain letter scam - Online versions of the old chain letter scam, easily identified by to good to be true claims. Don't bother with any scheme that remotely smells of a chain letter

Nigerian fee scam - Usually targeted at business owners, this one invites you to give your bank details to a so called nigerian government representative, so they can bleed you dry. This particular scam became very serious when an American was murdered in Lagos, Nigeria in 1995 as a result of becoming involved in it.

Affiliate programs to avoid

Avoid programs or networks that:

- Have poor commission tracking software and a poor history of payments

- Have no visible privacy policy and no certifications from respectable agencies

- Do not have their contact information on their web sites

- Require you reach a minimum sales quota

- Require you to reach a specified minimum in sales in a set period.

- Expect the customer to remember either the affiliates name or web site and include it on the order form.

- Have exclusivity agreements

- Only pay for products that you link to

- Only pay on the first visit

- Do not pay often and have high minimum sales quotas