The links to the website do vary. If you do follow one of the scam links, you will be likely be forwarded to another domain like biznews7-dot-org. The biznews7 site appears to be a legitimate news portal. The news of the day revolves around the headline, “Jobs: Is Working Online At Home The Next Gold Rush?”

The fake article is sprinkled with quotes expressing how easy it is working from home, and the money that can be made with “easy Google profit”. Be warned, there is more to the site than the pitch.

The code running it is designed to auto-customize just for the person reading, adding a bit of local feel thanks to JavaScript pulling data from GeoIP. The GeoIP code will alter the title of the portal, in our case it became localized to Indiana, as well as tagging various parts of the headline story with a local city and state.

Example:

“For Maria González it sure is. Maria, a mother from Indianapolis IN is thriving, in the middle of an economic recession working in the comfort of her own home.”

Additionally, besides using GeoIP, the site also cites an additional source of information to spin the notion that Google is looking for at home workers and has the money to fund the opportunities.

This scam has had some success because it’s been around for a while, and recently it has shown an increase again for whatever reason. It is spreading via comments on Facebook, and has been showing up on forums and as comment spam.

Any ad you encounter that claims Google will pay you to “post links on Google” or “get paid to post links on Google” or any variation of the search terms shown below IS A SCAM!

Any ad that claims making money from home or making money online is easy – don’t believe them.

I’ve been working from home since 1999 and there have been many weeks I have put in 60+ hours creating content, working on my blogs layout, researching topics, researching affiliates and much more.

In a nutshell, working from home IS HARD WORK!

If by SOME chance you have enrolled in the Google Link Scam I would HIGHLY recommend you CANCEL your credit card or debit card. Once these scammers have your number, it’s hard to tell what they will do with it.

This Google LINKS SCAM should NOT be confused with Google Adsense or Google Adwords – those are both legitimate money making and marketing opportunities available through Google and their website.

If you are EVER uncertain of a website or offer and can’t tell if it’s a scam or not – feel free to leave a comment on my blog or drop me an email – I’m happy to take a couple of minutes of my time to save you money and heartache.

Some of keywords used by this Paid Google Link Scam are:

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This list is likely incomplete – so if you know of a keyword or phrase that may be overlooked, please do add it to the comments section – we’ll gladly update the list and needed.

I just received an email newsletter that I signed up for a couple of years ago.

In the beginning, the person behind the newsletter was one of my greatest mentors. But now, I see that person as having sold out to the almighty dollar.

In the newsletter, they explain why everyone should be blogging. How great it is for traffic to your site and how easy it is to generate a profit.

It goes on a bit further to say that it’s real easy when you purchase one program for $47 or the other for $139.95.

These programs are nothing more than what people like Darren over at Problogger and myself – just to name a couple are giving away for FREE!

If you’ll look through Darren’s archives, you’ll see that he is being blessed far more from the Big Guy for helping people in such a way – and he is the one that inspired me to help other mother’s who may be struggling to make an extra buck to buy her kid some cool shoes or pay for that skating party that she always had to say no to before.

Programs like the two I mentioned above (I won’t tell which ones, but they are just about as spammy and ripoffish as they can get) make me angry, make me feel sorry for everyone who buys them and makes me want to scream just a little bit louder to keep others from buying them.

Do NOT EVER purchase a program or book unless you’ve dug around through some of the more credible sites and found whether they are worth it or not first. Save yourself some money and some wasted time.

Ok, I’ve ranted enough now. It’s just that email has sent me right over the edge a bit.

Google will hire you to work at home!

No. They. Won’t.

Face it people, unless you have a website and work as an affiliate, Google is not going to hire you to work at home, but there have been numerous work-from-home scams promising just that.

Google Cash, Google Profits, Google Works, the list goes on and on and on. I can’t seem to do a single, valid search on work at home options without turning up a gazillion of these offers. I actually get quite a bit of traffic across my “work at home” topics from people looking for information on these promises scams.

I’m thrilled to report that Google has filed suit against the perpetrators of these scams. You can read the suit here.

As always, if you’re looking for information on work-at-home opportunities, consult a professional – there are plenty of seasoned bloggers who write on the topic – Including myself, who would be glad to help you investigate offers for validity.

Names to be wary of when it comes to Google work: Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.

When I first began working from home, I spent hundreds of dollars on hard sell sites for those amazing packages that would teach me everything I needed to know to start making 10k in a month.

Boy was I stupid!

All I ever seemed to open was a package that told me how to sell the same exact product I was sucker enough to buy, in much the same way.

In case you don’t know what I mean by hard sell sites, I’m talking about sites that look like this:

Or this:

The thing that gets me is:

1. The look of the site — If they’re making so much money, why not pay for a quality site that isn’t cut from the same pattern as every other cookie cutter hard sell site out there?

Though I suppose it’s good that they look like they do, it does make them much easier to spot.

2. The automation — The automation that is set up to make it seem as if the special promotional price will end the minute the visitor clicks away from the site. I’ve taken a couple of screen shots below to show what I mean.

Notice the date on this hard sell site? Where it says “One-Time” Offer?

Now take a look at it from a web designers perspective (view source):

You can clearly see the “One-Time” Offer at the top. Go further down the code and you’ll see how it’s set up to show the date specific to the visitors arrival to their website.

I don’t condemn a person for trying to make money. I do, however, think there is a great deal to be said for the initial appearance of a website that lets a person know it most likely can be trusted.

For me? When I happen on one of these websites that is nothing more than an obvious hard sell internet infomercial, I keep on moving on!

When I happen on websites that are trying to teach me how to make more money online and the author has affiliate links to these sites, I find myself not wanting to trust the author so much, because I know they are trying to regain the money they lost on the hard sell investment.

Most times I experience a moment of pity for them and then move on!

In all fairness, I’m sure there are valid sites out there.  I just wish they’d take some of that 10k they’re earning each month and invest in a web design that’s a bit softer and more believable.

Have you fallen prey to the hard sell tactics? What was your experience? What would you tell others who are looking at the hard sell sites or looking for the best ways to make money online?