I am going to have to get my own Hub Pages account, as I see the need of writing articles and stories to share, and I have to use my husband's account for it. Again I want to share one of my stories hoping it will be of use to others, but this is not a successful one like my match.com story "Does Match.com Really Work??"

I want to begin this hub with the honest truth, especially for those out there trying to start an income project online. I have to say that IT IS NOT EASY and it is NOT AN OVERNIGHT endeavour either. So please beware of the many scams out there, especially the work at home scams and most of all the work at home "DATA ENTRY" scams.

Lets face it, most of us here writing Hub Pages, or even the ones who have blogs and/or own websites, are just trying to find a means of making some extra money. Some of us are new moms, others struggling parents, dads, grandparents, students. All are REAL people who are just pursuing a goal, or a dream using honest means.

Really, working on the Internet might sound like a piece of cake to some, like anyone could do it, but it is not the case. It is time consuming. It takes sacrifice, reading, researching, finding and promoting. It is a long process that you have to work hard on. In search for that goal, unfortunately, some of us get scammed by people who want the easy, crooked and evil way to their earnings.

DISCLAIMER: Everything you read hear is my opinion and my own interpretation of my experience with a particular data entry site.

I am a new mom who wants to stay with her baby for as long as the pocket permits it. Once my baby started getting into a schedule, I began to have a certain amount of free time. I really felt like I wanted something to do, to earn a little extra income and start saving for those many responsibilities a baby brings. I thought of many things before I started searching for stay at home work online.

I encountered many options, some of course were not suitable for me, as they require webmaster knowledge or other skills that I do not have. I ran into great websites hosted by real moms that I just wished I could have. My favorite one is Money Making Mommy, it offers great advice, great reviews, great ideas and especially motivation...hats off to Kelly Land!!

Anyway, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a Google Ad in one of those legit sites I stumbled upon. And guess what the ad was about?? Yep, you got it...Data Entry. I read the whole page, up and down, clicked on every button, read and re-read, saved it on my favorites, read it again the next day. The site was SO convincing, with an "official-looking" insignia on the front page, testimonies, a copy right notice and all the gadgets you could possibly want...IT CONVINCED ME!!

The site was claiming to give you access to Data Entry Forms that other companies they affiliate with would pass on to be filled out. They showed examples in which, literally, you had to just transcribe information from one format to another. Everything was supposed to be provided to you by this company, no other.

I was so excited to have found something to do at home, while my baby was sleeping. I payed their fee and waited for the email that was supposed to give me my member user name and password. When it arrived I immediately logged-in to start working, and to my shock and surprise, the members area was only a list of websites of companies that are not even data entry companies. I could not believe it!!! Still I started clicking on every link to see where it took me to. One after another I clicked and clicked, only to be taken to survey pages, to job bank websites, a virtual assistant's page, pages where you had to pay another fee to get yet another list of possible positions, job agencies, more "data entry" sites of the same sort and pages that do not exist any longer. I am willing to bet that these companies do not even know they are part of this list.

When I was finally convinced I was not satisfied with the product (about a day later), I was still clinging to the hope that I could get my money back. After all, the site in question did have that pretty insignia "Your money back GUARANTEED, No questions asked".

That is when I started looking on the website for the procedure to get my money back,as it is usually pretty straight forward. It was no where to be found. NO WHERE!!! Even when I clicked on the insignia, it took me to a page where you would do the registration and payment process all over again.

I could not believe it!!. Nervous and agitated I kept on looking, this time for a phone number to call...NOTHING!!! So I went to a search engine to see what I could find on "smartdataentry.com", and to my surprise, shock and disbelief, I found many entries where this site was being reported as a scam. Too late I learned that I should have done this search before.

So now you know: this is the work at home website where I was scammed!!...smartdataentry.com

And here is my explanation of the scam. Below you can see the beautiful home page...Nice huh!!! Heck, just by looking at it I want to pay the fee again...KIDDING!! As you can see, its got a nice, convincing and appealing claim of what you can earn if you dedicate yourself for a few hours to the data entry work. Then on the right is again a close up of the "guarantee"...huh "100% legitimate and legal program guaranteed and your money back after the trial!"...Yeah right!!! I am still trying to get my money back. I keep on sending emails and the reply is always my log-in name and password to their system.

I mean who would not dream for this. Only for $49.50 you get all that satisfaction and guarantee and earnings and on top of it all "24x7x365 access to the members area and unlimited customer support".

Go ahead and go to the site (smartdataentry.com). Just please come back and finish reading and don't you dare send them any money (ha ha). Now scroll down, look at how the program works, look at everything you are getting. I would be a fool if I did not want... "an easy to follow program and everything you need to know to be very successful"

Wow, all the data is provided for me, most forms are short and not time consuming, (see picture of supposed sample forms bellow) and no special software required. Oh and do not forget to read the convincing testimonials (top of the page button).

I am forgetting the most important part, the member's area, where you will get everything you need (forms, information, help, etc). It is actually the mere list of useless websites that I talked about previously, and where it is suggested you pay more fees at some other sites. As you can see on the picture, I had to hide the names, because smartdataentry.com has a copy right notice on top of it all.

Anyway, that is about it. Now, have you found a phone number anywhere??? or instructions on retrieving your money???....NO! I thought so. Too bad for me, I was hoping you would.

I think there is no bigger mistake in life than not learning from your mistakes. Here is a list I have compiled of things that signal a scam. Please, if you have some other tips, share them with us.

1. Also called typing jobs, transcription, filling out forms and clerical work at home.
2. It requires you to pay a one-time fee to start working.
3. It makes absurd claims about earnings.
4. The website does NOT list appropriate contact information. A name, a phone number, an address.
5. No experience needed .
6. The "Guarantee policy" should be explained, telling you how exactly to get your money back and give you specific and useful contact info.

Do not forget to do a lot of research on any site you are considering on sending money to.

Google does what it can to avoid "scam ads" being placed under its name (Google ads). It has even created a policy against Data Entry ads that you can read for your self here: Google's Guidelines

Fortunately, many of these scam sites have been taken off the web, but you know how scammers are and so they always find a way to come back. They always find the crooked ways to beat the systems. That is why these scams keep on appearing and have not entirely vanished. SO ALWAYS KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN AND BE CAREFUL!

At first I was feeling a bit ashamed of having been fooled and scammed. I never thought it could EVER happen to me. But now I can tell you surely and securely, that you should not feel ashamed of being scammed and you are no fool...it can happen to anyone, because as you saw, the scams are very convincing. Really the only ones who should be ashamed are the people behind the scam.

Remember that about 90%, if not more, of the "Work at Home Data Entry opportunities" out there are scams. Do not be fooled by pretty lies.

Don't let this scare you either for trying to do your thing online. Yes, there are bad people out there, but there are also very, very good ones (the majority in fact). SO JUST BE CAREFUL!!

And yes, I am $49.50 short, but I am a lucky women with a great baby and a loving husband who's not going to say "I told you so" (don't blame be for trying out some reverse psychology here) and Hubpages to help me recover the loss.

I have yet to find out how to get my money back and how to report them so that effective measures are taken. I am on this task right now and will be back to share my finds. By any means, if you have advice to share, please do under the comments section below.

Finally, here is my picture, so you can put a face to these words.

IMPORTANT: Please know that our written work is licensed under the Creative Commoms Copyright License which states that you may NOT use it as your own.