Getting paid for providing your opinion sounds like a dream come true. You might think you can do this on any survey site you find – but unfortunately, not all survey websites are legit. Some are scams that do nothing but waste your time and steal your money. Some even steal your information to sell off to other scam websites.
To help you protect yourself, we’ve compiled some tips to help you find legit survey sites that pay you for your opinion.
Read Online Reviews
Take a few steps to verify if you’re looking at legit survey sites. One of the first places to check is their online review section. Firstly, if they don’t have any reviews on display on their website, that’s a red flag. If you don’t see any, search for their name and add “reviews” to the end of the query to find reviews across the web. Click through as many reviews as possible to see what other users have to say about their experience.
Check Their Social Media Presence
In 2020, nearly every legit company has a social media presence. When investigating whether a paid online survey site is legit, you should also look into their social media presence. If they are active on social media and regularly respond to comments, this is a good sign, as most legit companies want to engage with their audience and provide the best user experience possible.
On the flip side, if they don’t have an active social media presence or lack one altogether, they might not be legit. Social media isn’t just about marketing, but also connecting with a community. When a company isn’t active on social media, it shows they don’t care about engaging with their community.
Review Their Privacy Policy
If you really want to know which paid surveys are legitimate, check out the site’s privacy policy. Any website that asks its users to create an account should have some sort of privacy policy. Since you have to enter your email address and create a password, the privacy policy should outline what happens with that information. Read through any survey website’s privacy policy to see if there’s any mention of keeping your information safe. If they lack a privacy policy or don’t mention keeping your information private, they’re likely not legit.
Inspect Reward Policies
You’re not just taking surveys for fun. You also want to get paid! Any legit paid survey website will be transparent about their rewards policy. If a survey website doesn’t tell you upfront, before you sign up, what it takes to redeem a reward, don’t waste your time trying to find out. Most people won’t see their rewards anyways.
In addition, watch out for survey websites that require you to accumulate a large number of points that you’ll only cash out for a small reward. If it takes you weeks to earn a small gift card, it’s not worth your time.
Search for Articles Related to Scams
Another way to verify legit online surveys for cash is to search for the survey website on a search engine and add the word “scam” to the end of your query. If the website is a scam, there’s likely an article about it floating around the internet. Take your time to read through the articles to find out if the survey website is a scam or not.
Watch Out For Red Flags
Keep an eye out for these warning signs while you’re doing your research:
There’s a Signup Fee
If the first thing you notice is a signup fee, don’t even bother. You wouldn’t pay to go to work, would you? Legit survey sites pay you, not the other way around! When survey websites charge a signup fee, it’s usually to collect your money and make it nearly impossible to earn it back or turn any sort of profit.
They Have a Long Pre-Qualification Process
It’s normal to answer a few pre-qualification questions before taking a survey. Pre-qualification questions help verify that the correct people are taking the survey. However, some survey websites ask an endless amount of pre-qualification questions and then tell you that you’re unqualified to take the survey at the end.
Often, these “pre-qualification questions” are the actual survey and are part of a scam site’s method to avoid paying people. If the pre-qualification questions take you longer than a few minutes to complete, it’s a scam.
The Survey Pay is Too High
While we can all dream of getting paid $100 for a survey that only takes 10 minutes to complete, it’s not likely. If you come across a survey website that offers rewards too good to be true, it probably is.
They Have Excessive Positive Reviews
When investigating a survey website’s reviews, make sure to actually read through them. If a survey website only boasts tons of positive reviews, it’s unlikely they’re legit. There’s always going to be at least one person who had an unpleasant experience. When there are too many positive reviews, they’re usually fake.
Their Website Isn’t Secure
Does a lockbox appear in your browser when you visit a survey website? That means the website has standard security encryption (SSL) to protect website data (including your personal information) from third parties. Without the presence of this lockbox, your information is not protected.
They Ask for Personal Information
While it’s normal for survey websites to ask for general information about yourself to match you with surveys, it is not normal to ask for private personal information like your Social Security number or banking information. If a survey website asks you for any sensitive information, they’re a scam.
They Post Ads on Craigslist
Although Craigslist has some amazing perks and offers, it’s also a hot spot for scams. Survey websites that are not legit love to post advertisements on Craigslist. If you happen to see any survey website pop up on there, steer clear.
Join Branded Surveys for Legit Online Surveys
If you’re tired of searching for legit paid survey sites, you’re in luck – you’re currently on one! At Branded Surveys, we provide our members with legit online surveys that pay you with obtainable rewards. Here are some of the ways you can verify our survey website.
Transparent Reviews – Head over to our home page to see reviews straight from Trustpilot, a third-party review website. We don’t have a surplus of 5-star reviews. Every good and bad review we’ve ever received is there for you to see. We have nothing to hide.
Privacy Policy – We care deeply about our members’ privacy, which is why we clearly outline how we protect their information and data in our privacy policy.
Secure Website – Do you see the little lock at the corner of your browser? Branded Surveys is a secure website, so you never have to worry about third parties stealing your information.
Clear Rewards – We’re clear about our rewards policy. All you have to do is earn 1,000 points and you can cash out for a $10 gift card or $10 in cash. It’s that simple. When you log into your dashboard, each survey displays its point worth so you know exactly how many surveys you need to take to earn 1,000 points.
We Don’t Ask For Personal Information – We never require our members to provide us with sensitive personal information. We may ask you to answer general questions to help us match you with surveys, but it’s never sensitive material.
We’re Active on Social Media – We love engaging with our community on social media. Visit our Facebook page to see what we’ve been up to. Don’t forget to follow us so you can stay updated.
How to Start Taking Legit Online Surveys For Money
If you’re ready to get paid to take surveys , the first step is to create a profile with Branded Surveys. Once you create your account, we’ll ask you a series of questions to help us get to know you better. We then use your answers to connect you with surveys you’re qualified to take. Your survey matches appear on your dashboard. All you have to do is click on one to take it! Once you finish taking the survey, your earned points will drop into your account.
To cash out for a reward, we require our members to earn at least 1,000 points. Reaching this amount is easy as long as you stay consistent taking surveys. After you reach 1,000 points, choose from cash or a gift card as your reward. Within one to three business days, you will receive your reward electronically!
Sign up for Branded Surveys today to get started!
