3 Common Online Scams

You work hard for your money, and I don’t want you to get scammed. 

Avoid Being Scammed Online - Scammer Exposed My $8,000 Lesson!Unfortunately, scams happen every day on the internet. In fact, I am currently dealing with a scammer who is trying to take $8,000 from me. So today I want to tell you about 3 of the most common scams that you need to be aware of if you’re a digital marketer or someone working from home.

As you know, I’m the founder of Adrian Agency. Digital marketing is my passion, and I generally don’t like to talk about negative things. I want to provide as much value as possible. But the reality is that I want to protect you all, and I feel like there are more scammers out there trying to take advantage of people now than ever before.

1. Backlink Scams

The first scam you need to look out for is people trying to “sell” you backlinks and guest posts. 

Especially if you aren’t experienced in SEO, it can be difficult to understand who is selling a real link and who is selling a fake link. Be careful about buying backlinks from people you don’t know, or who don’t have a strong reputation. If they represent a website that seems unrealistically big, that’s a huge red flag.

Don’t buy backlinks from just anybody; you have to make sure they’re reputable. If you’re curious about how to find a reputable person, you can find that information on YouTube or Search Engine Journal. There are a ton of places where you can find reputable backlinks.

You can also contact my company! I’m trustworthy, reputable, and local. I can get you the backlinks you need, so you don’t have to worry about getting scammed.

If you get guest posts offers that look reputable, look them up on LinkedIn and Facebook. See if that person has a real profile, friends, and connections. Make sure you have some mutual connections before you buy backlinks or guest posts from a stranger.

2. Content Scams

Avoid Being Scammed Online - Scammer Exposed My $8,000 Lesson!Content scams are huge. A lot of people who need content written for their blogs and social media are hiring content specialists who don’t provide actual value. 

Tons of scammers out there just use tools called “article spinners” to create new content. These are tools that take content from somebody else’s website and spins it, adding in different acronyms and words without changing the actual context of the conversation.

This type of content doesn’t really improve anything. It’s essentially regurgitating the same unoriginal content back out. A lot of the time, Google will catch onto that, which can potentially cause long-term issues for you.

You may not get flagged right away for using unoriginal content, but it simply won’t give you the authority you want. So, when you’re looking for a content writer, ask to see some of their work and make sure that they will create unique, authoritative content for you.

Your content needs to be written for you: your strategy, your business, and your brand. If it sounds unoriginal and plain, it’s probably a spun article.

3. Potential Threats

Next is potential threats. As I mentioned earlier, I am dealing with a scammer in this area right now. 

This guy inquired about buying a website from us. We build amazing websites, and he reached out saying that he has an agricultural business and is looking for the best website design. After about 4 days of back-and-forth, I sent him a proposal with our terms and he accepted it.

Avoid Being Scammed Online - Scammer Exposed My $8,000 Lesson!At this point, I was starting to get a weird feeling. I looked him up on LinkedIn… he wasn’t there. I looked him up on Facebook… he wasn’t there. Then I got an email from him, saying that he wanted me to charge him $8,000, and send $5,000 to his project coordinator.

That was a huge red flag! I knew right then that this was a scam.

Just a few minutes ago, he called me up on the phone and told me that he was from Cambodia, but had been living here for 15 years. That doesn’t seem realistic. So I followed my usual steps, saw that it was a scam, and emailed him back to tell him that this was against our policies.

The chances of a guy like that being a scammer are around 99%. If he isn’t a scammer, he has a bad way of doing business. People don’t do that.

Look Out For Scams

These are the kinds of things you need to look out for when you’re working online, or trying to build an online business. 

Avoid Being Scammed Online - Scammer Exposed My $8,000 Lesson!People are trying to scam you all day long. I could have bought a backlink just the other day that would have cost me a significant amount of money, and I never would have gotten the link. He just sold me a bill of goods.

So I want to protect you guys from those things, and make sure you keep an eye out for scams — because they’re out there!

Hope your week is off to a great start, and as always, keep looking up!