Paid to surf sites are washing across the Internet like a tidal wave. As powerful waves settle, new sites pop up out of the foam like tiny islands. But are you likely to get beached with Gilligan and the Crew, or end up on Fantasy Island with Mr. Roarke and Tattoo?

The answer depends on which ones you decide to trust.

If you're not familiar with them yet, then you're probably new to the Internet. Either that or something terrible has happened to your computer, your cable has been cut off, or there has been some strange mishap with your phone line...for the last 2 years.

But not to worry, the paid to surf site is not the Bermuda Triangle and can be easily navigated.

1) You register.

2) You upgrade. (Paid to surf sites don't use the word "invest" for legal reasons...but most members consider their upgrades to be investments.

Your upgrade is based on how much you want to earn each day. The top paid to surf site pays up to $750 per day on your upgrades).

3) You surf. (You are paid a percentage of your upgrade each day that you surf a set number of sites).

and

4) You get paid. (Unless you've been stranded on Gilligan's Island; and as you may know, Gilligan's lovable, but his ship never comes in.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of Gilligan's Islands out there. That's why it's important to make sure your vessel is sea worthy and there are no adverse weather reports. But how do you inspect your craft? And where do you go for a weather report?

Well, tighten your life vests, the Coast Guard has come to the rescue!

The first thing you should do is visit the site's forum. If there isn't a forum, what is the administrator afraid of? Stay away. If there is a forum, what do the members say about the site? What "aren't" the member's saying about the site? If the forum seems to have been shut down...no recent posts...no new threads...then there's rough seas ahead, me matey. Sail on.

Next, it's a good idea to search for problems at scam sites. There is a good option below:

http://www.ripoffreport.com (I think this one is the best).

There are a couple of things to consider when doing a search for scams:

1) Just because it's not listed, that doesn't mean it's not a scam. Many people don't know about these resources.

and

2) Just because it is listed, it doesn't necessarily mean that the program is a scam; however, if you find that there are dozens of complaints about a particular company...sailor beware. If there are only one or two complaints...it could be a case of a pirate with an ax to grind. Take the complaint with a grain of sea-salt.

Next, check out everything at the site. The FAQ is important, but you also want to check if the site has a backup plan. Is there a safety net?

Some examples would be:

1) Is the site diversified? Is it backed up by other programs?

2) Does it have a reserve fund?

3) Does it have its own payment processor? This is a big plus.

4) Does it allow you to make a lot of money in a short period of time but isn't backed up by other programs? Then it's probably a sinking ship.

5) Does it have a good record? or is it new? New sites aren't necessarily bad, but they can be risky.

6) Look for professionalism in the site. If there are lots of misspelled words and grammatical errors...that's not a good sign. (If there are only one or two...it's okay. It may bother you...but it's okay). This does not apply to member testimonials by the way. Those are usually published as is...and some of them can be pretty appalling.

7) How many members does it have? The more the better.

8) How much has been paid in through the member's fees? The more the better.

If the site passes up to this point, then go ahead and join as a free member. The next test will be the member's area. Once you get into your member's area, look for any administrative posts that may be there. Are they saying things like: "We've almost got the server problems fixed." or "We should be able to start paying members again soon." or "We seem to have gotten the DDOS attack under control." If you see any of the above...log out.

(I do have to add one thing to the above...scheduled server maintenance is okay).

Now if the site passes everything, give it a whirl.

Just remember the golden rule of investing (I mean upgrading). Never invest (upgrade) more than you can afford to lose.