“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So cautionary wisdom reminds us that people are still getting scammed all the time. Fortunately, there are “red flags” you can look out for to help you identify scams and thus avoid them. “Too good to be true” is red flag No. 1. Below are five more ways to spot hard-link media buying scams, as well as other types of scams.
Pay attention to inconsistencies
Another easy way to confirm ownership is to have a hard link vendor place your link on the website temporarily.
A scammer can execute his deception strictly from a playbook, as in mass telemarketing fraud, or he can pivot and improvise flawlessly. The important thing to remember is that when a scammer is caught in a lie, he or she makes the scam bigger and in the process piles on more vectors for verification – and thus additional warning signs.
One of those scammers, named “Jonathan,” recently came across my inbox. Like James Veitch, famous for his TED Talks documenting the games he plays with con artists, I decided it was time for some fun. At the risk of making even more brilliant mice by building a better mousetrap, I’ll share some details.
Jonathan’s initial pitch wasn’t that different from the legitimate one: “Hey, I’m from this well-known – but not too well-known – website and I want to sell you a link for this deal price.” However, several things were ‘not right’ from the start. I decided to focus on one thing: To give his offer an air of legitimacy, Jonathan made unsubstantiated claims that other people were buying the links and getting “great results.”
This was strange because hard links are generally sold on high domain authority websites for SEO value, not for immediate results. Even if buyers get good results, it’s impossible to attribute increases in search rankings to a specific link. And even if that were possible, buyers are unlikely to talk to the seller about how great the deal was, risking problems arising. the price go up.
Note lack of transparency and missing links
Jonathan’s pitch was already off, but the pleasure of chasing him down this rabbit hole was irresistible. So I played along, prodding him for examples of the “great results.” Immediately, the scam began to unravel.
“What evidence? They are on my site because they get great results!” was his answer. The supposed logic of this was baffling and backwards, something he didn’t appreciate me pointing out. He tried to deflect the topic and change it to how good he was at maintaining links for his buyers.
Scammers will purposely make transparency difficult and be ready with multiple explanations as to why transparency is impossible. Maybe a system is down or someone is on vacation. A good rule to remember is that if the deal is real, it will still exist when that ‘problem’ is resolved. Slow and steady wins the race.
Jonathan made no effort to help me verify his claims, and pushed back when I asked if anyone could vouch for him.
Notice the pressure to make a quick decision
A common technique used by scammers is to pressure you to make a quick decision. Time is money, and easy numbers are very profitable. Most scammers don’t have the patience for a ‘long scam’. Panic is the main tool used for technical support and telemarketing fraud in banks. Making every assignment a “limited time offer” creates “fear of missing out” (FOMO), and the urgency breeds anxiety. Things like demanding money immediately or dismissing the obvious benefits of simply waiting should alert you that something is wrong.
Jonathan didn’t like that I didn’t immediately take him up on his offer, but I still responded. His response to my “slow and steady” was to lower the price. When that didn’t work, he started putting pressure on me by selling scarcity. He suddenly claimed that he was running out of spots; there were only a few left. Once again he promised results if I would just send the money now.
Feeling that his chance of a payday was disappearing, he lowered the price even further. He now showed desperation to sell, which contradicted his initial pitch. If most people had gotten “great results,” he could command higher prices and not have to sell at lower prices.
His final strategic move was “the walk away,” hoping to trigger more FOMO by saying he had others waiting to buy and he didn’t have time to make a decision. If someone is imposing urgency, it’s time to take a break. As Richard Branson once said, business opportunities are like buses; another one will come along soon.
Look for limited or vague communication
Jonathan claimed he had been in the industry for a “long time.” He mentioned running “countless sites” in different niches, and claimed to have worked with “thousands of people.” Yet he did not mention any other websites by name or offer any references. The deliberate vagueness of his claims made them unverifiable.
Ad networks make it very quick and easy to work with publishers, taking the guesswork out of who is legitimate and who is not. Ultimately, it comes down to relationships and knowing who you’re working with to ensure you don’t fall victim to scams like this. If you need clarification, you should turn to a verifiable or reputable source.
For example, you can be sure that a specific ad network is selling for a website because their ads are on that website. It’s clear and you can buy them from that network. That’s your confirmation method. If you are contacted directly by a publisher, first make sure that the publisher’s email address is from the website’s domain or matches the email address listed there.
Find ways to definitively verify facts
Another easy way to confirm ownership is to have a hard link vendor place your link on the website temporarily. When I asked Jonathan to post my link, he rudely refused, saying he was “not here to prove anything” and insisting that I already got a link for a low price.
Veteran publishers don’t behave like that. Sure, some publishers can be ‘challenging’, but ultimately they want to make money – and they know they’ll make more by fostering trust and good relationships.
I made it so absurdly simple for Jonathan. I went to “his” website, filled out the contact form, then replied to his first email and told him all he had to do was respond to the message I had just sent through his website form. Any legitimate publisher would take a minute to pass this test. Instead, Jonathan said, “Form submissions are not handled by me, we have a different department.”
Most people would discover the ‘missing link’ there. If his statement were true, Jonathan could contact that other department and have them respond to my email to help close the sale. But since Jonathan couldn’t access the website and respond to my message, he doubled down with, “You can trust me.” This response was even more comical considering that the website he claimed to be selling for black and white stated on the contact page that it does not sell links! The lies had reached the point of ridiculousness.
Then I shifted gears and accelerated. I asked for details of the transfer and quickly determined that the name on the foreign account was not close to the alias Jonathan had used. It’s true that using an alias isn’t exactly a red flag in the porn industry, but I digress.
With bank details in hand, I told ‘Jonathan’ that accepting a bank payment for advertising on a website he did not own would be bank fraud, and I asked for an invoice. At that point, his high-pressure sales techniques melted away. Suddenly he wanted to wait to close the deal, even though I offered to pay now. He knew I knew, and I never heard from him again.
The final word came when the website owner responded to the message I sent via the website form. I won’t lie: I did a happy dance when it showed up in my inbox.
“No, I am not affiliated with this man,” it said. “And unfortunately I know a number of people who have already been scammed.”
For deals where you don’t know the person on the other side and can’t rely on a trusted third party, your best defense against online scams is systematic due diligence, as attempted with Jonathan, to assess the likelihood that the deal is legitimate. However, also pay attention to the ‘gut feeling’ you get that something is wrong.
Your gut feeling is the culmination of your life experience and is there to protect you. Trust it, especially when the desire to close a deal or FOMO is high. You may not be able to explain it, but if something doesn’t add up and you also discover several red flags as mentioned above, then you should let them prove their claims. If they can’t or won’t, you should walk away.
Juicy Jay is the CEO and founder of the JuicyAds advertising network, as well as the founder of Broker.xxx, which helps people buy and sell adult websites and businesses.