Will I be a victim of a fake check scam from this free site I signed up for? please read this?

Question

I've been trying to find ways to earn money online. I ran into so many scams--I'm disappointed that the FTC or the BBB isn't doing enough to take these scammers offline. Anyway, I found something that does sound legitimate. I won't get rich right away, but I'm still skeptical. The site's called Inboxdollars.com. I signed up for free, and get paid like 50 cents for each survey, complete free offers, read paid emails, and got a $5 sign up bonus. So far they credited a total of $9.44 to my membership account. For payment, I can request it by check in the mail (I have to make at least $30 to get a payment), no paypal account required. I'm extremely hesitant about these checks though, like I'm so scared that they're gonna be fake. What should I do once I earned enough to get my first payment? Should I cancel my membership with them right now and shred any checks I get? Should I present these checks to my bank to find out rather or not it's fake? How can I tell if checks are fake? If it's a scam, I'm gonna report them asap. How can I find out if Inboxdollars is accredited with the BBB?

Answer 1

No, actually the checks will be real.

There's not enough money involved to be a scam.

But continue to be suspicious.

Answer 2

Wow, I'm very suprised to hear of an online money system that does not require you to pay money upfront.  I'm glad to hear you were able to look past the obvious scams.

From what you're saying, it sounds legitamite right now.

You should definitely do exactly what you just said; when you get the first check, take it to your bank and ask them what they think.  You don't have to tell them your whole story, just hand it to them and ask them if they'd be able to tell you if it's real or not.

If the bank either says it's real or something like they wont be able to tell you until after it clears, deposit it into your account instead of cashing it.  That way, it will just sit in your account waiting to clear, and if it doesn't clear, you wont owe the bank money.

The only negative things I was able to find about InboxDollars through searching the internet was complaints about how long it takes to get a payment.  I've yet to read anything about the checks being fake, or anything of that nature.  I wouldn't be too concerned-- the fact that it pays so little and so infrequently beens it's most likely legitimate.  It's the too-good-to-be-true things you need to worry about.

Answer 3

From what I read at reviewopedia.com, associatedcontent.com, and other reviews of the company (all I did was google it) it doesn't sound legit at all.  There are just too many people with the same complaint, and it sounds like you don't get many contacts.  I think I'd just look at how many hours it took you to earn the $9.44--it probably works out to minimum wage or less.  And if you report them, they're not going to care and nothing is going to happen to them.  I don't know if your state's attorney general has had enough complaints to prosecute them yet, and you could contact the AG's office to see if they've had any complaints.  I think you need to stay away from these guys--at best they're a waste of time and at worst they're a total scam.