Folks, I’m about to unveil a pretty big scam to you. You may have come across a page online that in it’s title says “Amazon Cash Websites”. I will also call it ACW in this article.
On the page, it claims there’s some app and tools you can use to make money with this organization. In this post, I want to explain why the things it says aren’t real.
Here is what the Amazon Cash Websites page looks like:
So why exactly is this page a scam? Let me explain it like this:
On the internet, there’s a lot of scams which are pushed through fake news websites, which are known as the Work at Home Special Reports.
In fact there’s so many of them, that I actually made a YouTube video exposing it and it’s on the first page of Google, warning people about it.
Here’s an example of what these pages look like (I’ll explain how the ACW page ties into this in a moment):
Here’s some specific things you need to know about these types of fake pages:
- There’s a ton of them, which have different domain names/URLs but in essence say the same kinds of things:
- They talk about a mom who discovered some work at home system.
- They show stocks and pictures of a woman with her child.
- They show a journalist who is “reporting” on this work at home system.
- The idea is to make you believe this page is showing you some kind of official, legitimate system.
But it’s ALL fake.
These pages are made by people who are pushing some kind of program (usually a scam) on the back end. You land on one of these pages, click the link, get transported to some make money online system and then the scam begins.
Going back to Amazon Cash Websites page…
It’s basically the new Work at Home Special Report scam:
After seeing the plethora of fake work at home special reports and the tons of bogus work at home programs they pitch, I kind of memorized the specific things they all have in common and when I landed on the ACW page, it had many of the same things:
-It had an explanation of this “new opportunity” to make money online.
-It talked about how people are using this system to make money from home.
-I’ve also found SEVERAL exact duplicates of the ACW page on other URLs, which as I said was also done on the fake work at home pages.
-Basically this site is falsely using the Amazon brand name to push it’s system on you.
This is the bottom line:
Basically ACW has NOTHING to do with Amazon (scroll down on the ACW page and they even admit it), it instead is the new generation of work at home, fake news pages. And this is what you have to know the next time you land on this type of page.
But I decided to take a risk and here’s what happened when I did:
It just so happens that I use these fake work at home pages to expose other scams and I figured I could do the same with this ACW page, and so I clicked on the link and it took me to a program called Clone my Sites.
I bought it and got transferred to an entirely different program. In short, what ended up happening was that I was transferred to what is known as a “hosting scam”, where I was going to be given a duplicated page, which I could not do much with.
But this type of outcome is normal if you deal with these fake pages as much as I do.
3 important facts about this whole business model you need to know to protect yourself:
1) In 9 out of 10 cases, pages like ACW are always pitching a new, get rich quick scheme. Today it’s Clone my Site, tomorrow, it can be an entirely different thing.
2) These fake pages are designed to push the next scheme which pays them to push it, all while trying to come off as a legitimate news page.
3) Again, ACW has NOTHING to do with the Amazon program. This is just a fake page which is using the brand name to market itself. They also use images of famous people from within the business, fake photos of families and they also have the audacity to use actual facts about the numbers the actual company generates to mislead you into thinking this report is real.
Why these scams work over and over again (and how to not fall for them):
This is clever and yet deceptive, because people who come to this page who are unaware of what’s going on see 2 things:
A) A “news report” that makes them think it’s legit, and…
B) The name “Amazon” and the impression that there’s a way to make money with it.
And thus they hop on, click the link, thinking that they are buying a system that is approved by Amazon (it’s not) and they get scammed.
That’s how this whole thing works and now you have insight on the scam and how it operates. At least now you know the next time you see an ACW look alike site pop up (and believe me, you will, these pages are going to spread across the internet just like the work at home special report sites did before it).
Ok, so this is a fake site, I get it, but is making money with Amazon still possible?
The answer is yes: The good news about this scam I just exposed to you is that it talks about a subject I legitimately have experience with and thus I know when a fake site is preaching false things and when it’s not. Unfortunately in this case, it’s the former, but…
Let’s turn away from that for a moment. I want to tell you that I actually make money as an amazon affiliate as well as an affiliate for other companies like it.
The truth is that you can work for this company, as an employee, and as an affiliate marketer (selling their products). And it can be done with a website, where you can sell these products.
Let me give you some personal examples (Yes I make money on this program):
I currently have 2-3 websites which promote products that are on Amazon. These 2-3 sites in question are small projects (blogs) I am building up. Here’s a brief overview of my sales reports there:
In this screen you see, I generated $60 from selling 62 items from Amazon. It’s not a lot, I know, but that’s because my main income comes from another page and other things I sell there, and here are the stats from that:
Now I personally choose to promote products in another market and not be as involved in Amazon, and the point I want to make here is that you can make money online with and/or without this program if you wish.
Some people make full time incomes through it, others don’t even bother with it and do just as well. Here are 10 Amazon affiliate success stories.
The truly important thing is that you understand how to make sales online in general and this is where I want to explain a TRULY good program that will teach you how to do this and let you decide whether or not you want to sell through that program or another like it and make money that way.
One great training program. Tons of options to make money online:
Whether or not selling on Amazon is your goal or you’re unsure of this yet, I just want to mention that the following program I am recommending you try is going to give you that option.
It provides a central training platform to teach you how to make an online business and sell on whatever you wish.
It is called Wealthy Affiliate:
So I want to finish up by saying that although ACW is a scam, at least now you are warned about it and at the same time, you also have a true way to make an income through the actual Amazon program (or through any other online).
I do agree with you, there are so many scams and I really don’t believe anyone who preaches making money quickly. I know online business can be challenging from experience.
Online business needs a lot of hard work and there is no easy work, I have worked so hard on my website but I have still not made a dime. So when someone says you will make money quickly I just leave the page.
That’s certainly a good way to avoid the scams, but being that you are not seeing results, let me help you figure out why this is. Let me know more details about what you are doing to try and make money online and I’ll try to help you figure out what you needs changing to make it work.
The tricksters and scammers stop at nothing. If only they put in the same energy on a legitimate business. Guess they can’t come up with a decent product.
I feel so blessed that I stumbled onto Wealthy Affiliate instead of some scam. I’m a newbie, but my progress in about 2 weeks has been impressive.
Starting on the Level 3 training and so glad to be a part of a community that can answer my questions and help me solve problems along the way. WA is well worth it and learning to do Affiliate marketing without being a scammer is vital.
Hi Alexander, indeed being a part of WA, you already learned the legitimate way to work within this business. This is something most places do not teach correctly, they only talk about making money, without actually talking about the ethics of it or it’s legitimacy. A good affiliate marketer’s business is about helping his visitors out.
Boy do I really hate scams but, I guess that’s just part of the internet so I’ll have to deal with it *sigh*. I’ve come across ads with a similar structure multiple times online so I figured that the amazon cash websites were probably illegitimate from the get go. Then again its definitely more reassuring to be notified of it being a scam from who really knows what they are talking about.
Yeah I agree Amhil, even when we feel a website is a scam, without seeing reinforcement of that from other pages such as mine or others, people can still fall for it, so yeah it’s important that we have sites up that help warn and reassure people that they are right about these scams if they land there.
Hi Vitaliy,
Thank you for this review of Amazon Cash Websites (ACW). I have not heard of that exact one before. I agree with what you said about a lot of the fake websites having similar patterns or warning signs to them.
I know how the headline always seems to pin point a common job tile like student, mom or retired couple. These headlines suck people into thinking that if the mom can do it…then they can do it too. The pictures are all stock photography as well. In fact I didn’t realize how often stock photography is recycled on the internet, that really is a mind boggling trend.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi there Glenys, yeah stock photos are overused on these sites, because people don’t really need much proof to think something works unfortunately. They see, for example a student, then read content on how a student is paying his or her college bills thanks to so and so program and that’s really all they need to make the sale happen. But you should always look deeper into a website and cross research it through Google.
Vitaliy,
Good, informative article. It’s great that you posted what the fake page looks like. I, myself, am sold on Wealthy Affiliate (WA). I like to think that prior to joining WA, I would never have fallen for this fake Amazon scam you’re exposing here, but I’ll never know. I do know, however, that being a part of WA, I’ll never have a need to fall for a scam since WA is legitimate.
One question, though. When someone falls for this, are they just out the up-front money, or is their bank account or other personal information at risk?
Kind Regards,
Rick
Hi there Rick, usually with these types of programs, you only lose what you knowingly enter your CC info for to buy. However, these programs are known to up-sell you afterwards, but even in those regards, they can only charge you if you give them you CC/bank info once again.