Just about anywhere you go online you will run into ads that promise you lucrative money that can be made online.  Some offer high payouts for surveys, or through the power of e-books.  But how many of them are scams and how many actually work?  There is an old saying; "It takes money to make money".  That's not always true.  Here are some tips that can help you avoid being scammed:

1. Don't be fooled by flashy websites or videos that claim of riches.  These sites were designed to get your attention.  The first thing you want to do is verify the web-sites contact information.  You want to make sure you can make human contact.  Avoid auto-mated connections, this will make getting a refund from the site nearly impossible.
2. Take time to view the sites content.  Read everything available on the site.  View the tutorials, take a tour of how the sites program works.  Read all the fine print.  A sign of a scammer is when there is little information about how the sites money making program works.
3. Do some research.  Investigate the business.  Go to bbb.org and run a search on the business.  See if there are any complaints.  You can also see if there are any comments that legitimize the business.  Do a search on the business name through sites like Google or Yahoo.  Typically any complaints that have been filed will populate in the search.
4. Make sure the compensation offered seems appropriate to the job offered.  For example, if you are offered a high pay out for reading emails or stuffing envelopes then there is probably something wrong.  Be wary of sites that offer you to test products in your home.  These products could have been purchased with stolen credit cards from invalid or fictitious addresses.
5. Never enter your credit card information into an unsecured website.  Make sure you look for the yellow lock symbol in the secured web browser and make sure the site begins with "http". 
6. Never pay up-front for anything.  Serious companies offering online jobs shouldn't be asking for money to recruit you.  Stay away from purchasing e-books that offer the "secrets to financial wealth".  There is a lot of useful information available online for free, you just have to look for it. 
7. Some sites will often disappear or become disabled the day after you have made your purchase.  Don't be surprised if you haven't done your homework and the owners vanish without a trace.
8. Never reveal your passwords and don't use credit or debit cards for online "age verifications".  Identity thieves are constantly searching for ways to find out your personal information.  Change your passwords often and keep them to yourself.  Avoid using one standard password for all of your sites.
9. Never use your personal email address.  Setting up an online through yahoo, google, or other sites like hotmail is free and easy to use.  Avoid opening spam emails as often they contain code that verifies your email address back to the original sender which will generate more spam.
10. Stay away from offers that come via email claiming you are a winner of a lottery or your account it needed to hold funds of a deceased person in another company.  These are scams.  These people will con you into sending them money and then they disappear.

So what can you do to make money online?  The first thing you need to have is patience and the second thing you need to have available is time.  Building an income online takes both hand in hand.  If you are willing to invest the time and effort you can build a good income online.  Here are a few sites that can help you along the way:

• Hub Pages:  As many of you well know you can generate income through Google Adsense and several other affiliate marketing sites.  Content is key, however.  You want to make sure your articles are interesting and have good tags attached to them.
• Createspace.com:  For writers wanting to get started into self publishing this is a great site.  This site offers a standard program that doesn't charge membership fees or print fees.  There are also no print minimums.  Set up is easy.  They offer competitive royalties and low costs on author requested book orders.
• Ehow:  Earn cash writing simple, but interesting how to articles.  This sites payments are based on traffic and it pays monthly through Paypal.
• Associated Content:  This site is as easy as 1-2-3!  Simply sign up and start publishing.  You can get paid up front on articles as well as getting paid over time when your content is viewed.  You can also claim projects that are offered on the site and get paid on those as well.
• She Told Me:  Earn revenue through Adsense and referrals.  Submit interesting short articles called scoops which can link back to articles you have already written.  This is a fun site.
• Bukisa:  Share your knowledge through submitting articles, build your network and earn ongoing royalties.

There are other ways to make money online as well.  You can look into Paid Survey sites.  Many offer cash and other prizes.  A few good ones to look into are:  Neilson Net Ratings, Greenfield Online, Survey Spot, and Survey Club.  There are many more out there.  Just be sure to research them.  There are Paid to Read Email programs out there also known as "PTR" programs.  Some of the top ones are:  DonkeyMails, World Wide Cash, and Inbox Dollars.  By and large you want to stay away from programs that offer you money for surfing the Internet, however there is one that is actually reliable and will pay you $5 just for signing up.  It is called SurfBounty.

You can make money online, but you have to do your homework.  There is no such thing as "free" money or getting rich over night.  So use your intuition and be careful!  Good luck.  For those of you interested in joining some of the sites listed, I will post their links below.