How to find out if a company is legit?
It depends greatly from place to place, but nothing beats the Internet reviews' research. If you can't find anything digging slightly deeper than the impressive home page, then you probably should be worried. As it seems that you are. Specifically, I do these: @JohnFX mentions a valid point: check for physical presence. Check that the office address is a real office and not a PO box or residential; call the number and see who answers it (if you call several times during different hours and the same person answers - that's probably a one-man operation). But that doesn't always help because short-term renting an office is not all that hard and getting a call-centre outsourced to a third-world country doesn't cost all that much. It definitely helps if you're dealing with someone local, but if you're in Sweden and checking out a suspicious operation in Cyprus - this is definitely not enough. If you are trying to weed out companies that are fronts for scams, one way is to look for a physical address that checks out with the phone book and a phone number posted on the site that connects you to an actual person. By itself this isn't a guarantee that the company is legit, but it will weed out a large number of fraudulent companies hiding behind PO boxes. That is, companies that defraud a lot of people don't usually make it very easy to track them down or contact them to complain or sue them.
A sure-fire way to make money?  Hell no. There are tonnes of scams and money grabs out there, not to mention the fact that most ICOs are based on projects that are going nowhere. Having said that, there are many ICOs each month that will do very well in the future.  The best thing to do is to shortlist a number of projects you like the sound of and then sit down and research each of them.  Some of the key things to look out for, aside from whether you think the idea is a good one are: The team.  Do they have a proven track record?  Are they reputable?  Is what they claim provable?  Google team member names and check to see if they have a legit Linkedin profile. The Whitepaper.  Is it clearly worded without spelling and grammar mistakes?  Does it have a well defined roadmap with provable achievements to-date? The ICO format.  How much are they looking to raise and is it a realistic figure?  Are unsold tokens burnt?  Is there a maximum contribution limit per investor? What does the competition look like? If they are first to market then this will make the startup way more attractive. The above are probably the most important things to consider though there are many other things to investigate. I have written a fairly comprehensive guide to all the things I look out for when analyzing the investability of an ICO. You might want to check it out before firing out your Bitcoin and ETH into dubious projects. etags.com Legit eTags, a web service provider of vehicle registration renewals, also writes about tips for potential, new, and experienced vehicle owners for topics that range from tips on maintenance to insurance to buying a car and how to get the most and have the best experience. Read about Upfront Mortgage Brokers. That site has a bunch of information on mortgages and brokers, including mistakes to avoid when shopping for a mortgage. You can also find lenders with upfront pricing. I've used it for shopping and you will find very competitive rates. I'm wary of brokers. When we sold our house, the buyers (young first time buyers) got screwed by an unscrupulous broker and didn't actually have a loan lined up. Delayed closing by 2 days while they scrambled to find a legit lender who could put together funding. The one time we used a broker (our first time), we got a deal that wasn't really as good as it should have been. (Hindsight.) She said he's been in business for 3 years and I've Googled it and found it to be accurate from the paperwork I've seen that's public knowledge. I know this isn't a get-rich-quick thing bc hard work and money went into making and building not only a business but a brand as well. Brand building is a lot harder than business building. Anyone can get a loan with decent enough credit and open up a shop: it's keeping people coming in that is the hard part. I understand all areas of this business except for the growing part. I've never known how to grow weed or the technicalities it takes to maintain healthy plants and things. I'm just looking to invest in something I believe in because weed shouldn't be illegal and the medicinal reports state that it's far from a gateway drug or anything of the sort. I do wanna thank you for (so far) being the nicest reply to my post. We seem to have some haters and naysayers on here who like to just start shit and while you may find it hard to believe that I'm trying to just get rich, that simply isn't the case. I believe her and I believe in her so I know what she's trying to do is all legit I only worked there for all of three months, but I thought it was fine.  Nice, friendly people and it's in a great location.  However, both of my bosses actually left the company when I was there.  To my understanding, there wasn't a whole lot of room for advancement in the company.  There are a few divisions where the bulk of employees reside (sales/investor relations, collections, customer support), typical business departments consisting of a couple employees each (accounting, HR, IT), and then a couple of managers plus multiple executives.  The company isn't too large, I believe there were around 70-100 people when I was working there.  However, I would do a google search and see if you can find someone who worked there more recently or for a longer period of time. I've had some time to investigate this and so I will answer my own question, as it may be of help to others. One of the first things to do is examine all bank statements, as this may reveal in-goings and out-goings from a previously unknown source. Secondly, get any mail redirected. Unfortunately, mail redirection is far from perfect in the UK but at least it increases one's chances of uncovering an unknown asset. Lastly, there is Landmark FAS who will do a search for a fee of around £175. "Yeah, I'll take the challenge...:) How trustworthy these are and what are their sources of income? These are in fact two separate questions, but the answers are related. How trustworthy? As trustworthy as they're clear about their own sources of income. If you cannot find any clue as to why, what for and how they're paying you - you probably should walk away. What's too good to be true usually is indeed too good to be true. For those of the sites that I know of their sources of income, it is usually advertisements and surveys. To get paid, you have to watch advertisements and/or answer surveys. I know of some sites who are legit, and pay people (not money, but gift cards, airline miles, etc) for participating in surveys. My own HMO (Kaiser in California) in fact pays (small amounts) to members who participate in enough surveys, so its legit. Are these sites worthwhile to consider for extra income? Not something you could live off, but definitely can get you enough gift cards for your weekly trip to Starbucks. What do I need to consider tax wise? Usually the amounts are very low, and are not paid in cash. While it is income, I doubt the IRS will chase you if you don't report the $20 Amazon gift card you got from there. It should, strictly speaking, be reported (probably as hobby income) on your tax return. Most people don't bother dealing with such small amounts though. In some cases (like the HMO I mentioned), its basically a rebate of the money paid (you pay your copays, deductibles etc. Since the surveys are only for members, you basically get your money back, not additional income). This is in fact similar to credit card rebates. Is there a best practice for handling the income? If we're talking about significant amounts (more than $20-30 a year), then you need to keep track of the income and related expenses, and report it as any other business income on your taxes, Schedule C. Is there a good test to determine what is and isn't a scam? As I said - if it looks too good to be true - it most likely is. If you're required to provide your personal/financial information without any explanation as to why, what it will be used for, and why and what for you're going to be paid - I'd walk away. Otherwise, you can also check Internet reviews, BBB ratings, FTC information and the relevant state agencies and consumer watchdogs (for example: http://www.scamadviser.com) whether they've heard of that particular site, and what is the information they have on it. A very good sign for a scam is contact information. Do they have a phone number to call to? Is it in your own country? If its not in your own country - definitely go away (for example the original link that was in the question pointed to a service whose phone number is in the UK, but listed address is in Los Angeles, CA. A clear sign of a scam). If they do have a phone number - try it, talk to them, call several times and see how many different people you're going to talk to. If its always the same person - run and hide. Do they have an address? If not - walk away. If they do - look it up. Is it a PMB/POB? A ""virtual"" office? Or do they have a proper office set up, which you can see on the map and in the listings as their office? And of course your guts. If your guts tell you its a scam - it very likely is." You can go to the required company's website and check out their investor section. Here is an example from GE and Apple.