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[StarChaser]

In my world of having an extensive technical background, and also running a forum as an admin
successfully for over 4 years for a Youth Soccer site, I would say that I have enough experience
to be able to write this tutorial, and help people detect scammers before it's too late.


What I am going to try to show you is some tell tale signs that should give you a fair warning
as to what you may be up against with someone should you decide to work with them. With
fraud on the rise, people losing money all the time, people going red on sites, and no responses
from users, this thread probably couldn't come at a better time.

So I hope that I can help shed some light on the subject for people when they are trying
to determine whether they really want this ref or not.


One thing that has been talked about recently in the forums is the advertisers pulling offers
from sites due to the increase of fraud. Now what we have to stop and think about is,
"Does this really affect us, and are we the cause of it?"

The answer to both of those questions are "YES!" The reason being that it affects us
is because we are losing out on the possibility of our valid referral being able to green
on that one last site with a full credit on that site. That offer may be vital to you gaining
one of the bigger cashouts on a site.

And YES, we are the cause of it. We caused it, because we didn't take the time to really
do our homework on the referral before we sent them to the site and to do the offer.
There are really three phases of security here.

The first phase belongs on our shoulders. We as members of this forum have a niche
market that we can all make some money at - we all know that. But by allowing our greed
or selfishness get the best of us, we overlook the importance of sending a quality referral
to a site. We take it upon ourselves to get that referral to the site as quickly as possible
and signed up to the account under our links, so that if that referral 'ever' goes green,
we can cash out on it. But what we don't do is take the time to look at really who we are
dealing with.

The second phase is the security of the site owners. These are the people that run
the sites we push people to to sign up at. These site owners are our friends and the
people who put gas in our vehicles, or food on our tables, or clothes on our children's back,
or the ability to pay our referrals. They have extensive ways of checking referrals that
enter their sites and sign up. They cross check ip's, addresses, email addresses, phone
numbers, user names (if applicable) and many other ways. They even run Cross checks
with other sites to see if a user's details that are on site A matches with the results of
site B - where the same email is found. Kudos to these guys who help us keep the system
alive and running.

Then comes the third phase. The phase where the advertisers have the say. They check
again to see if multiple orders have been placed, same phone numer exists or ip address
or email, or even street address. They will even go as far as to check your zip code and
see if your name appears twice within a zip code search to see if you signed up with
a different address under the same zip. Again kudos are awarded!

So having a bit of a better understanding of how all this works in regards to some
of the technical aspects of this... How do we do our community service as a FLR member?
Simple. Think quality not quantity!

We've all heard that saying "If you are going to do something, do it right the first time!"

Well, that is what this tutorial will hopefully help people in our community to do.
Get'er Done Right!

I want you to look at this image. This is a valid image extracted from the forums
for this tutorial purpose.

Some of you may remember seeing this post. Other may have not. But there
are a few things about this post that stand out. What are the signs?

1. Random User Name
2. Post Quality
3. Date Versus Sign Up Date
4. The Amount Of Posts
5. And finally - The Online Status

Now some of you may say "He's a newbie, of course his sign up date will be close to his post date",
or say "Of course he won't have a TR yet". Ok, ok, I agree. So we exclude those possibilities.

That leaves us with:

1. Random User Name
2. Post Quality
3. And finally - The Online Status

These are exactly the things we should be looking at...

The first thing that catches my eye is the random user name.
This person took the time to register his account, and yet create a user name
like: J4295420. Looks like to me he did a hop skip and a jump around his
numeric pad on his keyboard! (FLAG 1)

Now look at the Post Quality:

Any offers that need to get completed?

Wait - isn't FLR all about people with offers that need to be completed? (FLAG 2)

And finally my favorite that I have noticed:
ONLINE STATUS!

I know for a fact, because I was one of those people too, that when I signed up on FLR
I was pretty excited about making some money. When I signed up, I did it when I had the
time to sit and spend an hour or two to actually become active. One of the biggest things
to notice about a strong possible scammer, is the fact that after a post like this is made,
they are usually offline within 3 to 4 minutes. One single post is made, in the LTCO section
no friends added, no picture, to edit to the "J4295420 is enjoying FreeLunchRoom".
This tells me one thing, they were looking for one thing only - QUICK INSTANT CASH
to any sucker that would give it to them! (FLAG 3)

Here is the real kicker about this J4295420 post:
Views: 186
Replies: 73
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So now that we see this in a new light, let's look at another example!

As we can see here this attempt is a little more personable, but yet still a strong
candidate for a scammer. This user has taken the time to put a little thought
into this. "Laura" would match up with lgoss76 - right? Sure - common sense
tells us that when a someone signs their name Laura, and we see "L"goss,
that the L stands for Laura. But what we overlook is, and really think about this,
when you first posted your first thread - did you just expose your name to 22,000 active
members that you didn't know?! Of course not (FLAG 1)

Now Laura was a little bit more insightful as to what was going on.

pm me with what sites you are doing and how much you are paying.

That's nice Laura, but let me ask you this. How did you become so knowledgeable
about the terminology of not only the forums, but of the sites and what you get from it?
See my point? Usually a new poster will refer to a 'pm' as an instant message or a message
instead of a 'pm'. I have seen people (new comers) asking around the forum,
"What is a pm? lol" So this to me is (FLAG 2)

And of course - again - "Laura" was offline within just a few moments of her post (FLAG 3)

Not to mention again - no picture, no friends, no edit of the "enjoying freelunchroom" tag.

The kicker:
Views: 257
Replies: 79

----------------------------------------------------

Which brings me to my third and final reference for detecting a scammer.

Let's look at the key features of this extracted image:

1. Quality User Name: EDubb is a musical group
2. User has a beautiful woman for a picture
3. User has coincided the post time with her "Good Morning"
4. She stated she was looking to 'learn from experienced people'
5. User has edited their enjoying tag
6. User already has 5 TR before they even posted in the LTCO section
7. User as 1 Blog Post
8. User says they live in North Carolina

The end result:
Views: 268
Replies: 86

END RESULTS: Send your response to her!



Here is what I wanted to really show you:
User 1:
Views: 186
Replies: 73

User 2:
Views: 257
Replies: 79

User 3:
Views: 268
Replies: 86

Each time there has been a progressive increase to the amount of replies
to the thread. This is actually a good thing though. Because the first user
was a 99.9% chance of a scammer, and less people posted to that thread.

User 2 attempted to cover their identity and make themselves look real,
and that got them 6 more replies then User 1. But remember, all it takes
is '1' to set them on their way to fraud.

Finally User 3 appeared to be the most reliable person to work with,
so the increase got 13 more replies.

So as you can see, with a bit of patience, you can honestly see that there is a difference
in the quality of the person we send to a site. We CAN make a difference as to what
happens in this industry. We can determine who we work with and who we don't work
with.

I understand that people feel it's important to respond quickly to a thread, in order
to have the best possibility of getting a response, especially if you have a good TR
and decent amount of posts. But someone said the other day:

It shouldn't matter if you are first, or last - as long as you are there!

I had to stop and think about that for a second, and that person is absolutely correct.

So understanding the fact that with just a moments worth of time can help you determine
whether a person is a scammer or not, shouldn't affect your ability to do your duty as
part of this community.

Stop and think for a moment, when someone reds, we are all quick to dive into
the Lunch Theft and post in there the details! So why is it that we can't reduce the
amount of posts that get put in there by simply taking the time to look at a few
key points about the new LTCO thread that comes up in the live feed?

So to help detect a scammer, just take that extra second and look. See if they
have taken the time to post quality instead of posting quantity. Because most
of the scammers will create 2 or 3 accounts one right after another. And as
you may have seen members are posting that two accounts sent the same
identical pm to the user. Think about it - two logins, one copy and paste
from a text file - is all it takes. If one of those accounts makes it through
the cracks from us, to the site and slips by there, and then to the advertiser,
it could be another fraud attempt that is added to the tally and that much
closer to an offer being removed - for your next quality referral.

Great way to lose money huh?

[blinky5432000]

Nice info great detail. Thanks

[Amy426]

Thanks for the post..Lots of really good information!

[sammypants]

While I know that we should all look for scammers, a few things I do have to say. When I joined, I wrote my name to everyone in the old welcome thread. Second, the more we post about how to detect a scammer, the more info we give scammers on what to do so we don't think they are scammers.

[vipervma]

Originally Posted by sammypants

While I know that we should all look for scammers, a few things I do have to say. When I joined, I wrote my name to everyone in the old welcome thread. Second, the more we post about how to detect a scammer, the more info we give scammers on what to do so we don't think they are scammers.

I agree with you sammypants, and I also have to say tho the info in this post is very informative I believe most scammers know this and I would be more apt to worry about a poster that knows to much and trys to hard to fit in. Most people when they come here are lost and don't have anything to go by but what PPD tells them. When I first came here I posted interested. I still have not changed my status and probably won't, I think FLR said it all enjoying FLR. Just my opinion.

[Dora]

That is food for thought!! I understand the importance of warning newbies, and everyone about how scammers operate, but Scammers see all of this stuff, and this may help them to blend in.

Originally Posted by sammypants

While I know that we should all look for scammers, a few things I do have to say. When I joined, I wrote my name to everyone in the old welcome thread. Second, the more we post about how to detect a scammer, the more info we give scammers on what to do so we don't think they are scammers.

[MikiHope]

Good info. I do find a slight problem. There are people here who actually work for a living. (Don't quit your day job!!) and that might be the reason they have to be offline. As for the post count, I know when I started it took me a while to start posting, it can be intimidating to some!! AND it takes a while for people to even notice you and maybe respond. I do agree about the short posts, (and yes, I have been scammed twice). What I do now, if I am at all suspicious, if put in the trade manager that I will pay on VERIFIED green. This seems to stop them in their tracks. I really wish that all the sites would thoroughly check out the ref BEFORE they can actually begin to do offers--they can do it--we can't!!

MikiHope

[npalmer]

Some very great insights/thoughts you've put together here, StarChaser. I may be playing the devil's advocate here (or perhaps I'm just a cynic), but based on what I've seen here, user 3 could just as potentially be a scammer as the other 2. As Dora so aptly mentioned, the more "sophisticated" scammers will do all they can to blend in (maybe even go through the trouble of tailoring their profile just to hook others in). Now this is not to say that we should be suspicious of everyone, but a healthy dose of initial apprehension is probably a good thing. And at the risk of sounding "clichéish," I also have found that your gut will tell you 9 times out of 10 whether the person is dubious.

Case in point, I came across an LTCO offer some days back. I responded to it and the reply I received from the person gave me an uneasy feeling. The person was ready to go and wanted me to set up the trade; but before I did, I said, "great to hear from you, could you kindly provide your PayPal address so I may confirm you are verified?" I never heard from them again.

So often, the thing that stands between you and a scammer is asking the right question. Just my 2 cents on the matter. Excellent, excellent post though. Scammers need to be put on notice and you've done just that, StarChaser...thanks!

[StarChaser]

Usually when I am starting with a ref that I feel a bit uneasy about I ask them this:

1. Are you 18+ years of age
2. Are you US/Canadian Based
3. Do you have a valid credit/debit card
4. Do you have a paypal account

Usually this starts the conversation off with them. Then 'very' shortly after
before I even pass them my referral link, I say:
"Ok whats your paypal email, so I can get ready to send you some money?"

Then, all the while I am talking to them about their browser, or cookies,
or how to complete an offer, I am verifying their Paypal behind the scenes.
I usually wont pass a link until I know they are verified.

I understand some of you have your own personal thoughts and views,
and that is completely ok. But the fact remains that this is just one way
to help assure that a person is really who they say they are and that
in fact we "DO" have say in the type of quality of a person that hits
the site.

As far as 'oh the scammers will see this...you shouldnt have posted it'

I say: "Let them see it! Let them know that we are watching for them,
and just because a few of the things are posted here to detect them,
the more tricks they have, the more we have."

I don't care if a scammer sees this - if it deters just 1 scammer from
pressing forward, then I guess my efforts were not in vain then were they?

[DJ's Mama]

This is great! Thank you!