Online Surveys – Are they worth it?

Online surveys seem to becoming more and more popular with posters on forums like Money Saving Expert and IVA.co.uk. Many posters use survey sites to earn points that then turn into vouchers.

How do they work?

They work by using a simple format: you register with a survey site and enter details about yourself. These details will then allow the sites database to send you relevant surveys. Once a survey is available to you, you will be asked a series of questions to answer; with the survey times varying but it will usually state how long it should take at the beginning.

How do you get paid?

Each survey site is different, as some give a monetary value for each completed survey, while others give a point’s score. Each site will have a threshold for when you can redeem your completed surveys into vouchers. Some sites offer High Street shopping vouchers, while others offer supermarket and retail vouchers. Some do offer payment by cheque; however you may find that the payment threshold is a lot higher.

How do I find these sites?

Money Saving Expert has a good list of sites that are worth looking at. The list tells you all that you need to know about each site. Click here to see the list.

Are they worth it?

One of our clients wrote to us to give us her opinion on survey sites…

“I would like to recommend people signed up to marketing websites for some extra cash in the form of vouchers. I have used Amazon vouchers for purchasing discounted books and even a Kindle (£15.00 six times per annum adds up to nifty money). There is a good choice of vouchers. At the moment I have £20 in J Lewis / Waitrose and expecting £15 any time soon for use at Amazon. I am saving up for new curtains.

I have some £15.00 on Nectar card and  £11.50 in Tesco vouchers. All these little sources of vouchers add up to nice sums for extra treats. I have managed to buy lovely furnishings incl. table lamp, dining chairs, fireplace and mirrored coffee table which adds light to my otherwise dark and sparsely furnished living room. Rome wasn’t built in a day and I can be patient.”

Have you ever used a survey site and did you find it worthwhile? Let us know.

Written by Gemma on March 28th, 2012

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Posted in: online,Surveys,Worth

Teenagers jailed over £16.2M online crime syndicate

Wednesday 9th March 2011

A group of teenagers were jailed last week for running a £16.2 million internet crime forum. 

Southwark Crown Court heard how the gang of three masterminded the ‘criminal equivalent of Facebook’.Nicholas Webber and Ryan Thomas, who were 18 and 17 at the time, traded thousands of credit card details across a network of 8,000 users worldwide. They have been sentenced for five and four years respectively.Webber, of Southsea, Hampshire, the owner and founder of Gh0stMarket.net, was arrested in 2009 along with site administrator Thomas, after attempting to pay a £1,000 hotel bill using stolen card details.The Guardian reports that the fraud has been linked to losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds on 65,000 bank accounts.After seizing Webber’s laptop, police discovered details of 100,000 stolen credit cards and a trail back to their website. The pair skipped bail that December and fled to Majorca, but were arrested on their return to Britain in January last year. The court heard how Webber, the son of a former Guernsey politician, used offshore bank accounts in Costa Rica to process funds. The former public school pupil threatened to blow up the head of the police e-crimes unit after his first arrest, tracing officers’ addresses online.According to the Guardian, the site contained manuals such as "14 ways of hacking credit cards" and "running cards on eBay" and information on staying anonymous. It also sold hacking software and instructions on how to manufacture crystal meth and explosives.Another man, Gary Kelly, 21, was also sentenced to five years for his part in the scam. A software designer, Kelly hacked into thousands of computer systems stealing valuable personal details.Police raided Kelly's house in Swinton, Manchester, in November 2009, and he was found to be living in squalor, despite making £43,000 for his troubles. He allegedly taught himself how to use computers after leaving home at 15, working from a system he had built himself which even had missing keys.Another Gh0stMarket member, Shakira Ricardo, 21, of Swansea, received an 18-month sentence after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud and acquiring criminal property. She was described in court as a junior but trusted member of the website with an "appetite to learn" the ropes of computer hacking. Her ability to control fraudulent activities from her iPhone was described as "cutting-edge".Ricardo and Samantha Worley, 22, a hairdresser, used two Halifax bank accounts to launder money from the website. Worley admitted one charge of acquiring criminal property and was sentenced to 200 hours' unpaid work at a previous hearing.
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Wednesday 11th August 2010

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Monday 2nd August 2010

Mortgage broker ordered to repay £1.5m of client money used to pay off debts
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Wednesday 20th February 2008

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Posted in: crime,jailed,online,syndicate,Teenagers