There are lots of ways to make some money online and there are endless websites that will tell you just how to do it. But what about all the ways that exist online that cause you to lose money? Knowing how to protect your digital cash just as important as learning how to generate it. You know the old saying, a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
I love learning about new ways to make easy money, but let’s focus on the protection of the dollars we already have for now. The money saved is not as easily tracked as income, but just having the mindset of not letting money slip away will save you plenty over your lifetime. Here are five ways you can lose money online if you are not careful.
5. Automatic Payments – Just a few dollars here and there deducted from your bank account can add up. Podcast premium subscriptions, music service payments, or recurring withdrawals for donations can just keep coming out even when we are not really using the service or product enough to justify the money.
4. Daily Fantasy Sports – The ads for these websites are running constantly and it is wildly popular to put some money on your fantasy sports knowledge. It isn’t considered gambling so it’s perfectly legal. However, you better have a clue about what you are doing or you will waste your cash competing against guys who can tell you the most obscure stats you can imagine. That said, it is super fun to play!
3. Craigslist Scams – These scams can happen on any classified sales website or Facebook yard sale page. Some of the scams you hear about sound so outlandish that we may think that we could never get hooked. But if the scams didn’t work, the crooks would stop using them. So beware and keep your head on a swivel!
2. In Game App Purchases – Turning your six year old nephew loose with your iPhone is a good babysitter at times. But if he gets loose on some silly war game app and starts buying up cannons with real dollars with in app purchases, you have trouble.
1. Gambling – You are not as smart as the MIT kids who got over on casinos back in the day and had a movie made about them. Even though you can name every player on the Dallas Cowboys does not make you a point spread genius. Best to stay away from off shore betting websites unless you truly have some Rain Man type abilities.
