How to Spot “Make Money Online” App Scams

There have been scammers for hundreds, if not thousands of years. They are not going anywhere, and they’re only finding new ways to scam people.

The internet has brought us both good and bad things.

But one of those negatives is that scammers don’t even need to leave their home to take our money.

This blog is dedicated to finding scams and calling them out for what they really are.

Well, lately I have been reviewing a lot of “make-money online” apps that claim that you can make real money.

However, the vast majority of them are downright scams, so today I want to show you how to spot them and avoid them to save your time and energy.

#1 Check the Reviews for Red Flags

What I like about the Playstore is that people are blatantly honest.

You can find a lot of information about a product just from the personal feedback.

I like to take a few minutes to scour the 5-star ratings and the 1-star ratings.

After a few minutes you will spot a trend.

Most of the time the 1-star ratings will say they don’t get their earnings, their balance disappeared, they got banned from the app, the customer service are rude or they don’t respond, etc.

These are all telltale signs that the app creators don’t care about you and they are in it for the money.

#2 High Minimum Payout

The other huge red flag is when they have a high minimum payout.

They know most people are not going to stick around to hit a high minimum payout, so they’ll keep it high so that most people can’t get their earnings.

And for the people that do reach minimum payout, there are so little of them that it’s hard to find them in the review section.

These reviews will say they withdrew their money but it’s been 2+ weeks and they still haven’t received their earnings.

But these reviewers are there, and it only requires a couple of minutes to find them.

When you do, they are golden nuggets that almost guarantees a scam.

#3 Little-to-No Customer Service

Like I said in earlier articles, customer service can make or break your business.

Well in most of these cases – where they are running a fraudulent app with promises of making money – most of them don’t even respond to customer service inquiries.

And if they do, they are incredibly rude and don’t care about helping their customers.

This is another telltale sign that they are running a scam app.

Simply go to the app store and search for words like “customer service”. Your phone or PC should go straight to the reviews talking about how good or bad they are.

#4 Look for the Fine-Print

Legally they can get away with scamming people as long as they have some type of disclaimer.

This little disclaimer saves their ass.

It will usually say something like “earnings are not guaranteed”.

Which means you have unknowingly agreed to these terms and conditions and still used the app.

Now if someone decides to sue them, they are given the all-clear.

Make sure you read the terms and conditions to see what they’re really hiding before you dedicate any of your time and energy into the app.

#5 Low Star Rating

One things for certain when it comes to online apps, if there is a low-star rating of less than 4 stars, they are probably not as honest as they make themselves out to be.

And you should probably do more research to determine what’s causing the low rating.

Most of the time it’s because they are not being as legit as they sound and they are running a big fat scam app.

That’s not to say that apps with more than 4 stars is legit.

I have found many make-money online apps with an average of 4.2 stars and were also scams.

#6 Check for a Website

Again, I’m not saying that a website means they are legit, but they are far more likely to be running a legit app if they have a dedicated website.

90% of the time that I have reviewed apps and they don’t have a website, I have found them to be scams.

On the website you should check the terms and conditions, the “about” page, and especially the homepage to see what they’re all about.

See if any of the red flags pop up that I mentioned above.

#7 Easy Money

Nothing comes easy in this world, especially not easy money.

If you’re using an app and making a couple of dollars in less than hour, you’re more than likely looking at a scam.

App owners, especially scammers, don’t give away money that easily.

And legit owners need to profit as much as possible, so they’ll give the least amount of money as possible so they profit.

Easy money is a big red flag of a scam, and low earnings is a good sign of a legit app.

Why I Dislike Make-Money Apps

I dislike make-money apps because it’s SUCH a bad ROI.

Often times you’re putting in hours of your time and energy for a couple of cents.

I know because I’ve done my fair share of completing surveys, little tasks, and even trying to play app games for money.

There’s simply no money in them.

They’re designed to earn you a couple of cents before giving up, and the owner making all the money.

And that’s all there is to it.

The ones that push to the very end (where they manage to hit minimum payout), they are either let down because they were being scammed all along, or put in hundreds of hours for a mere $10 payout.

It’s simply a lose-lose situation, and that’s why I don’t recommend them one bit.

What Do I Like About Make-Money Apps?

Nothing really, I think they are a complete waste of time.

The only thing they are good for is for winding down after a long day.

They should never be used for killing time.

When you’re killing time, you’re not producing, and when you’re not producing, you’re not bettering your future.

In this day and age we are constantly consuming and making everyone else richer, but I want you to change that consumption behavior to producing.

Produce, produce and produce to make your future better.

This can either be working on a side hustle, building up a business, a social media account, anything really.

Even if you work on this “thing” for 1 hour a day, that’s far better than doing nothing.

I use to find myself MINDLESSLY scrolling Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and Snapchat throughout the whole day.

But there’s no end. It kills time, yeah, but that’s about it.

I’d rather you work on something that betters your future so that you have a purpose to work on every single day.

By the way, a J.O.B is not a purpose. You should find something that you can work on every single day that will allow you to quit your job one day.

There are so many opportunities out there, if you don’t have a side hustle in this day and age, you’re missing out.

What Do I Recommend?

You can work on anything really, but if you want a way to make money, there’s something I recommend.

I wish someone showed me this before I wasted all my time making pennies.

I discovered blogging a few years ago, and ever since I have never looked back.

Now I help people make real money online, the “quit your day job” type of money.

It’s not easy, it requires hard work and dedication, but the opportunity is there for those willing to change their lives.

Basically, you create a blog around a specific “niche”.

This niche can be your hobby or something you want to learn more about.

As you write your articles, you will monetize them with affiliate links. When you start getting traffic, you will get clicks and earn money from affiliate commissions.

So that’s what I recommend since it’s worked for me after failing at so many things online.

What’s the Biggest Telltale Sign of a Fat Scam?

What if you don’t want to do all this research, to simply cut to the chase and see if you’re dealing with a scam?

Well, after all my years of reviewing these things, there is no red flag set in stone that makes them 100% a scam.

But the biggest red flag is hands down a high minimum payout.

If you can only earn a couple of cents a day and the minimum payout is $10, you’re more than likely looking at a scam that has no intentions of paying.

On the other hand, I’ve seen apps that have $2 minimum payout, and they almost always pay their earnings.

Thanks for reading this article and have a great day.