Hi. I'm worried about giving out all my personal info including my social security number out to a site that runs their affiliate program in-house. Does anyone have any advice on how you can tell if an affiliate program is good and legit before signing up?
Hi LogicFlux, a legit affiliate program does not need your SSN. It is your personal information. The only information needed is the basic: first name, last name, contact details. Once you have started earning money and see that the program is legit, you can provide bank information to receive payment.
You should also check for other affiliates comments. google "affiliate name" payment, scam, testimonial to see what you find. It can be an eye opener
As poster mentioned above, you don't need to provide a SS #. However, to receive your commission you will need to provide your SS#. As required by law if you make more than $600 in a year, then this needs to be reported and you will get a 1099 from the company.
The S.S.# or Federal Tax I.D. issue is un-avoidable. Just like in every other instance, the government wants to get paid first. Usually I encourage new potential affiliates who are leery of giving sensitive info to just fill-out the sign-up form with a bogus social and include a short explanation as to why in the contact . I just can't pay you until I get a real one though! What I do personally to re-assure affiliates of my legitamacy is to personally call each one and introduce myself, as well as put all my contact info. in the signature of every e-mail I send.(including the office address and phone number I can be reached at) A simple address look up with the company name should yield the same address in multiple search engines as well as on web pages mentioning the business locale. When in doubt, just don't include any personal info. Its not worth the hassle of clearing up any identity theft that might occur. I encourage anyone within driving distance to come to my office and say "Hello!"(Bringing donuts will get you access to the newest creatives)