8 Effective Ways to Spot Survey Scams and Prevent Fraud

It sounds exciting to make money online doing surveys, but survey scams are all over the internet. They can be very well disguised too, which could put your identity or even wallet at risk. I've ensured to cover all possible reasons a survey is a scam, along with how to avoid potential fraud if you have fallen victim. 

Survey Charges for Participation

A survey scam is all over stealing your money. If you are requested to pay a particular amount of money, even if they claim to give more back, its a scam. A legit survey will never make you pay to participate, as that not only is theft but illogical reasoning. 

If a survey is asking you for card credentials, or even bank credentials, leave immediately. A survey should never even have a question related to your money balance, card details, or even where you have a bank account registered. If you want to earn from safe, secured surveys, be sure to sign up for Freecash. They are trusted by over 25 million users, including myself, for providing legit, money making surveys that PAY YOU, not the other way around.

Impersonation of Legit Companies

Impersonation is becoming a much more common take for fraudulent activity. Someone could be impersonating a big brand like Apple or even Walmart, but in fact, its a scammer. If you receive too good to be true emails that may seem like a legit company, be sure to inspect the following:

They also use tactics like creating a fake social media account, with fake followers. If you are requested to take a survey from an account that isnt verified, has no posts (legit companies usually have posts), and has no comments or engagement form other users, its a scam. 

Unrealistically High Rewards

If a survey is claiming they will pay you $50 or even $300 for a 20 minute survey, it is a scam. Survey providers are not that desperate, neither are they looking to lose money that quickly. Average, safe surveys and how they work is that they will give you maybe $2-5 for participation. Legitimate companies will always reward you with a modest number, never anything "too good to be true", because it is. 

One of my personal rules I tend to follow is that any survey higher really than $15 could be a scam, unless they are well trusted companies that requested you to apply. In this case, you are not completeing a 20 minute survey, its more like a product test. 

Offers Through Email

The best online paid surveys will never be sent to your email. Survey scams are constantly sent via email and they require you to click links that have malware attached. Its very important to not click on any links attached to an email like this. If you received one, and it seems suspicious, report it and delete it from your inbox immediately. 

Sometimes they may even address you by your name, which means you provided either your name or email to a site previously. If so, be sure to not give your email to random sites you do not know, as they can use this information to spam you or even try to hack your account. 

Extensive Pre-Qualifiers

Any type of pre-qualification test that takes longer than 20 minutes to complete is a scam survey. Sometimes these scams will ask you to even complete a long one hour pre-qualification. I know, its a ridiculous amount of time to ask from someone, but if you feel sold by the idea, run away! Its not worth risking your data or time.

It may seem legit, but the truth is, the survey is what you are already filling out for them, but for free. Maybe they won't even put malware or ask for money, but if a company is asking you to fill out a "pre-qualifier" that takes hours or extensive time, they are trying to receive your answers for their survey, but for free. 

Aggressive Advertisement

You may come across aggressive advertisements while trying to fill out a survey, or browsing an unknown website. These could look like:

If you are experiencing any of these types of advertisment schemes, do not click or engage. Simply leave the website, report the emails as spam, and block the number sending messages. Its not only annoying, but they should not even have access to contacting you in the first place. 

Download Attachments

Never download anything from an unknown website our email, especially if they are offering you payment for a survey. Even if they claim the survey is on the document, its not. No survey should ever be done from a seperate document, nor something to be downloaded. Downloading from a scam survey could lead to malware and identity theft. 

Sometimes these are sent randomly by text, social media, or even by email. Do NOT open them, please. Just report it as spam, and move on. I promise you, its not worth the curiosity. 

No Data Privacy Policy

All legit companies will have a data privacy policy either mentions at the end of their website, emails, or as a feature in helpful support links. If you suspect a survey to be a scam and you cannot locate their privacy policy page, they are most likely a scam, and can use your data without your consent. 

Before starting any kind of survey or browsing a website, always check immediately for a Privacy Policy. Most legit companies provide those immediately when asking for you to accept cookies. 

At Freecash, they take privacy very seriously, I would recommend them as they are not only the best website that pays you for taking surveys, but they protect their user data.