TheSurveyPro.com is of the latter. I clicked on the site and entered some basic information, such as my name, address, age and e-mail address. I then pressed the button to “join” the site, that promised to pay me for participating in online surveys. TheSurveyPro.com then sent me a confirmation e-mail.

I went to my inbox and clicked on the confirmation link and was directed again to the site where they asked me to participate in a brief “20 questions in 2 minutes” survey. Some of the questions they asked me consisted of the following:

Would you ever consider working from home? I answered “no.” In my experience, answering “yes” to such a question is giving the “go-ahead” to receive dozens of calls and e-mails from unscrupulous “work at home” scam companies.

Are you interested in an online degree? I answered “no.” Ever since I foolishly answered yes by mistake at another survey company, I get, on the average, four calls a week from “online education” sources using hard sell tactics to try to get me to “better” my education. At first I was nice, now I simply hang up.

Do you carry more than $10,000 in student debt? I answered “no” and this is the truth. But a “yes” answer will signal calls from debt consolidation companies, which is always bad news. Signing up with such a company ruins your credit as it is actually viewed as filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

Do you own a home or a condominium? I lied and said “no.” Because I know if I said “yes,” I would get a ton of mail asking me to refinance my home.

Do you feel it is important to know your credit score? I said “no.” Because I know if I said “yes” I would get mail and phone calls trying to “help” me raise my credit score.

Do you carry more than $10,000 in credit card debt? I truthfully answered “no.” This is just another attempt to get you into debt consolidation.

In the last 30 days, have you rented a movie? Again I truthfully answered “no.” This is an ad for Netflix. I’m not interested.

Do you consider yourself an expert in computer use? Another “no.” But I’m expecting to start receiving mail offering me instructions any day now.

Are you happy with your current body weight? I truthfully answered “yes.” I am one of the few Americans who is actually happy with my weight. Constant aggravation caused by my two kids has kept me in marvelous shape.

Do you belong to a fitness club? Gee, I signed up for three health clubs during my lifetime and ended up paying over $2,000 in fees. I think I used the club about five or six times. I wisely answered “no.”

Do you drink coffee? I answered “yes,” but I am not interested in receiving free gourmet coffee every month through the mail.

Are you interested in receiving free gourmet coffee? I answered “no.”

After answering these questions, I was directed to yet another site where they asked me to “help keep their site free” and check “yes” or “no” if I was interested in getting more information from their sponsors. As you may have guessed, most of their sponsors related to the 20 questions. They included various online universities, Overstock.com, Taste of Home (which is a wonderful magazine, but available at the bookstore), a few other magazine subscriptions and several “diet” sites.

I said “no” to all of these offers. They then asked me to “consider” another optional offer. I clicked on the site and saw a flashy car, huge house and the chance to earn THOUSANDS of dollars. All I had to do was give them my name, address and telephone number. Fat chance.

I clicked out of that site quickly and went to my inbox. There I found a link to confirm my membership to The Survey Pro website. I clicked on the link and quickly found how I can immediately earn $10 for only 30 minutes worth of work. All I had to do was sign up for 20 other survey sites.

While The Survey Pro is not technically a scam (they don’t want any money), it is not a legitimate “paid survey” site. It is merely a tool used to get information for businesses. The information that you provide to this site is sold to telemarketing companies that sell products such as diet pills, fitness equipment, magazine subscriptions, credit cards, debt consolidation, and – my personal favorite – online education.

Looking for a way to make a few extra bucks online? Skip TheSurveyPro.com. Unless, of course, you have a desire to have your mailbox flooded with offers and like to talk to telemarketers.

The surveys are easy. And in between taking each survey, you can rest assured that you will be automatically directed to a website for one of the following:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

Ever since I unwittingly signed up for NPD Online Research, I have received at least 20 calls from people trying to sell me either an online education or health insurance. I never have to worry about getting lonely; the phone is always ringing.

The good news about this site is that the questions that they ask you are easy. So easy that a 5-year-old can answer them. But NPD isn’t really interested in your answers. They are interested in obtaining as much information about you so they can sell you the following:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

Occasionally, they will surprise you with a chance to “earn” a free issue of “Taste of Home” Magazine. With the promise of a subscription. Don’t worry about giving them your credit card information; they already have your phone number and if you check the “yes” box without reading carefully, they will charge the subscription directly to your phone bill.

In exchange for sharing personal information with this company and fending off telemarketers, participants have the advantage of being entered into their monthly “sweepstakes” drawing…for $1,000.

Ever since I mistakenly signed up for this site, my inbox has been flooded with spam. I have contacted the company several times, via e-mail, and asked them to take me off their list. I have not yet received a reply. It doesn’t matter, however, because most of the mail they send me goes directly into my “bulk” mail. And I empty that regularly without ever looking. While I used to get about 50 pieces of “bulk” mail a day, I now get at least 200 pieces of “bulk” mail a day. All thanks to NPD.

Online surveys can be fun and can earn the participant a few dollars. I’ve researched many of them and found that NPD is not one of them. They take your information and offer you absolutely nothing in return. Unless, of course, you believe that you have the chance of winning the “sweepstakes” prize.

The worst thing about NPD is that it encourages young people to join their “panel.” The site is open to anyone over the age of 13, but adds a disclaimer that they “do not KNOWINGLY collect information from persons younger than 13.” In English, this means that just about any kid with access to a computer can click on to this site and participate under the guise of entering “sweepland,” which is the name given for the sweepstakes that you can win once you’ve given them every bit of information about yourself besides your blood type.

My sense of humor has made it possible to laugh at NPD. I particularly like their non-committal answer to whether people can actually earn cash for participating in their surveys. This is a simple, direct question that requires a “yes” or “no” answer. Their answer? Sometimes you might be able to earn cash.

If you are thinking about participating in online surveys for cash, please do yourself and your family a favor and stay away from this site. Unless, of course, you wish to receive incessant phone calls and e-mails about:

Online education
Health Insurance
Diabetes Care

If you have unwittingly joined this website by accident, keep a close eye on your telephone bill in case they have decided to send you a “complimentary” magazine subscription.

I signed up for surveyclub.com a month ago. Since then, I haven’t really made any money. Although the site boasts a lot of hype about visiting websites and getting paid, I found that they were more interested in selling magazine subscriptions and health insurance than actually paying for opinions.

Click on to surveyclub.com and you will get an audio sales pitch. They tout themselves as the “Number One Online Survey Club in the World.” Several testimonials on their site from different people boast of making at least $1,000 to receiving $125 for a single survey.

I’m a little leery about any “get rich quick scheme” and this site reeks of that. I’m also leery of anyone who is making $1,000 a month sitting behind a computer doing surveys all day. Things that sound too good to be true, are usually just that – too good to be true.

Surveyclub.com boasts of people making “thousands of dollars a month” just for giving their opinions. Any halfway intelligent person would be skeptical of this. The only way you are going to make “thousands of dollars a month” sitting in your home without having a widely marketable skill is if you’re selling drugs from your home. I wouldn’t advise that any more than I would advise participating in this site.

Unlike the most other online survey companies, Surveyclub.com does not pay you for taking the surveys. Payment is made from a variety of alleged “Fortune 500 Companies” who will “send you a check.” You cannot pick the surveys you want to take, opportunities are sent to you via e-mail and they usually have some sort of catch.

I have received literally hundreds of e-mails from various companies promising me everything from a car to a luxury vacation. Although I am currently not working at a job, I am a halfway intelligent person. I don’t believe in “getting something for nothing” and can usually smell a scam a mile away. These e-mails are deleted. Since I have signed up for this website, I’ve received many e-mails (most of which are directed to my spam folder). The ones I get in the my regular e-mail folder get deleted.

The one survey I did respond to, in the very beginning, was for $8. That didn’t seem like an outrageous amount. Until I read the fine print. In exchange for my $8, I had to pick four magazines to subscribe to. I would get them for one month and then be able to cancel the subscription. Sorry, but that’s just a little too much trouble to go through for $8.

Online survey companies can be a fun way to make a few extra dollars while you are at home. But they can also be a way to lose a lot of money and have your inbox flooded with unwanted e-mails. Like everything else, there are good online survey companies and bad ones. Surveyclub.com is a bad one. It preys on people who want to get rich quick (aka, suckers).

If you are thinking about joining an online survey company to make a few extra bucks, skip surveyclub.com. Take it from someone whose been there – it’s really not worth the trouble.

There are literally hundreds of online survey companies. Most of them are not legitimate ways to make money, although a few of them can earn you a few bucks. These companies target stay at home moms who want to make a few extra dollars while taking care of the kids, the unemployed who want to make a few extra dollars while watching dozens of daytime court TV programs, the elderly who are not afraid to use the computer and teenagers who think they know everything, but aren’t yet wise to the ways of the world. And let’s not forget the very greedy people of low intelligence who think they can get rich by answering a few simple questions to which a five year old can respond.

These people are prey to unscrupulous methods used by some online survey companies. These scams include the following:

1. The fee for joining. There are some sites out there who charge a “fee” to join. They promise you an opportunity to earn up to $100,000 a year, sitting home at your computer taking surveys. The fee is usually less than $50. These sites are always a scam. If it was possible to earn $100,000 a year doing surveys online, the roads would be empty because no one would be going to work. Everyone would be home, in front of their computers, earning easy money. These sites prey on the greedy and/or lazy people of little intelligence. By the time they figure out that their “get rich quick” scheme isn’t working, they’re out $50. It’s not a crime to be greedy, lazy or stupid. And, unfortunately, it isn’t a crime to prey upon them in many cases. These sites are careful to add “disclaimers” stating that not everyone will earn this amount of money. They promise nothing, but include testimonials on their site from people with no last names who claim to be living the high life from the comfort of their homes. They usually have photos of flashy cars and huge houses on their websites. People need to stay away from these sites like they would avoid the bubonic plague. Unfortunately, PT Barnum was right when he said that there was a sucker born every minute. Which is why these sites continue to exist.
2. The cell phone scam. In this popular scam, you’ll be asked for your cell phone number to “confirm” your membership. Seconds later, you will receive a call on your cell phone. The call will end up costing you anywhere from $1.95 to $4.95; depending on the company. These companies don’t usually end up charging you too much because they figure you’ll never miss a couple of bucks. But it adds up for them and that’s how they make their money. They will then periodically send you text messages telling you you’ve won a prize and to claim it, you simply need to reply to the text. This will end up costing you more money. Do not give out your cell phone number to any website.
3. The Switcheroo. In this scam, you will be participating in a survey and then be directed to another website. They will ask you to show an “interest” in obtaining more information from one of their marketing partners. You will continue to answer “no” and keep getting more offers; the survey will never end until you answer “yes.” Now this scam might not cost you any money, but it will cost you time. Because when you say that you are interested in learning more about health insurance, expect to receive an average of 10 calls a week from telemarketers trying to sell you health insurance. And the insurance they are trying to sell you is a lot more than you can expect to pay than if you contact an insurance agent in your area. I know this for a fact as I’ve actually done price researching. And the telemarketing company will ask you for both your social security number as well as your bank information (so they can send in a deposit with your application). It’s dangerous to give out such information to anyone over the phone; legitimate companies will send you any information you require by mail.
4. The phone bill scam. You’ll sign up for a survey company and provide your telephone number. Then you’ll proceed in completing a survey and receive an offer for a free issue for a magazine. You’ll think to yourself – what’s the harm? You’ll give your name and address for the magazine and hardly notice when a fee for a year’s subscription shows up on your telephone bill,. If you read the fine print, however, you will see that when you provided the company with your name and address to receive your “free” magazine, you authorized them to bill you via your telephone bill. They figure that you won’t even notice the extra $12.95 attached to your phone bill. And many people don’t.

These are just four of the scams that I’ve actually encountered during my foray into the world of online survey participation. I consider myself a half-way intelligent person, but I got caught for $1.95 for the cell phone scam and $12.95 for the magazine subscription. I’ve also been called about 20 times so far by different “health insurance” company representatives who requested my social security number and bank information over the telephone. These companies have yet to send me anything by mail. Luckily, I know better than to give such information over the telephone.

Online survey taking can be fun, but be careful. Do not give out your cell phone number under any circumstances. Do not give out your social security number or bank information. Do not ever express any interest in receiving information from health insurance providers. And avoid the “online education” inquiries as well. Do some research prior to joining any company, do not pay a fee, and beware of anyone or any website that promises to make you rich.