I think these are some of the vital signs are: Offering too much but demanding less.Negative reviews.No information about the exact locationOver smartness and giving less account of the nature of their business. regardsshimulwebsite design company ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

When I ask the person very direct what is it that you are trying to show me, and they are silent for a few seconds.   When I ask what Country they are from next, that is the decider for me.   If someone does not engage in communication with me right away, they probably are not worth talking to.      

From my experiences- -They keep making excuses for delays that would normally be easily taken care of. -Bad online review , You should always do a good search on any business you intent to do business with -Unreliable references, they might give you friends -They will not let you know where they live -They drive nice expensive cars, but there housing is questionable. ( signs that it's all a front) -They poorly manage their money ( gambling, etc) -they talk excessively about previous successful big deals. ( honest people dont like to brag) -they try to close you quickly! ( they do not want you to look deeper) -they try to get a deposit or retainer from you early on. I am sure there's more that I missed.

I totally agree with stevebooth. I see so many people hustling ebooks or things like 'make 500.00 a day on google within 30 days' or buy my ebook ill show you how to make tons of cash. Most people just want the easy fix and do not want to work hard. But i agree, to sucede you have to work harder then your competition.

Because I am heavily involved in the online world, i am very suspcious of affillite programs and consultents/programers you find online. There is not so much as a tall tail sign, as much as it is, doing your due dilligence and making sure you dont sign up to the first thing that comes along, its important if you do not want to be scammed thaty you are alert and street savvy.

One of the poster above me mentioned the best method in my opinion to see if its a scam.   'if its too good, it probably is'.    I gaurentee if someone truly finds a way to make $500 for 15 min of work, they won't be online advertising their techniques!

heh unless their techniques is to advertise online and make 500 bux a day with suckers signing up, then when you sign up they just tell you to do what they did.

Nowadays there are some really easy to use free tools that can quickly confirm your suspicions about possible scams.   For example, the Tineye reverse image search engine can quickly show that the photo of an alleged testmonial actually came from a stock image site.   And CopyScape can be used to show the same testimonials across different types of products.   There are also more sophisticated tools like Robtex and domaintools that can be used to reveal things like review sites that are actually owned by the creator of a product being reviewed.

The biggest sign that something is a scam is talking to a live person that is pushy about their product and you still aren't really sure what it is or how you would benefit from it.   To most consumers, a product that they want is immediately recognizable and it's use is generally instant as well.  The same goes for any offer of product or service geared towards business.  If you don't know anything about it what it is or what it does and why you'd need it, chances are that you don't.  Stay away!  Hehe   That's my #1 rule and has kept me safe for the most part.  Minus the whole 'buying traffic to my website' thing when I first started, what a joke!

Everyone, thanks for sharing your experiences with business scams. It's sad to hear how prevalent these tactics are. Sharing your tips and stories will help other small businesses become more vigilant in avoiding and reporting scams. For more on this topic, here is an article we wrote about a recent crackdown on Work-At-Home Scams NicoleD Message Edited by NicoleD on 11-19-2009 01:11 PM