online money-making schemes beware

The Internet is a dangerous place at the best of times, but since Facebook started allowing adverts to appear on its interface, we have been noticing a prevalence of similar ads saying you could earn $5000 per month by using Google.

If you click on one of these ads, they link to similar pages, apparently run by different people saying the same thing, and often showing the same pictures of $5000 cheques paid out by Google. If that doesn't put you off, then the website of the so-called eMillionaire Institute (or similar) may convince you that this really is a genuine opportunity.

Using a domain name that seems to have been registered only in December 2008, it's hard to see how these people can have been making money since January 2008 (the date on one of the cheques in the photos). The website itself looks slick - with logos of major TV networks and a fancy 10-minute countdown, implying you only have ten minutes to fill in a form to start making money.

But what happens if you pay the $1.95 to order your kit that tells you how to start making your fortune? There are reports appearing on the web from people who have tried it. One says you will unwittingly be signed up to a $39.95 per month subscription fee if you don't cancel. Another reports that not only the $1.95 was taken from his credit card, but a $197 fee was also taken out at the same time and he didn't know why.

Can you really make money out of Google? Yes you can, if you become a Google Adsense affiliate? I am sticking my neck out though and suggesting that this heavily-promoted "make money from Google" scheme being advertised widely across Facebook looks like it may be more of a classic pyramid scheme. Rather than making your money out of Google itself, I hazard a guess that the money you make will come from you setting up as an affiliate of this scheme, earning commissions if you get people to sign up, and you have to spend money to advertise on Google. Hence, there is a Google connection but Google is not actually employing you.

I could be wrong, of course, but I am not taking the risk of trying to find out, and I advise anyone who sees one of these enticing ads to leave well alone. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If anyone knows different about this scheme, feel free to let us know.