What Happened To Workmines? Was It Shut Down?
Are you one of Workmines members wondering why you didn’t get paid last Friday? Did you try to login to your account but the website would not load? So now you are asking – What happened to Workmines? What happened to your money there? Was Workmines shut down forever or is it just a temporary technical issue?
Well, I don’t really want to shout “I TOLD YOU”, but the truth is I’ve tried.
If you had read my Workmines Review posted on 4/27/2019, you would be at least warned that such a shutdown might happen anytime. Maybe I was too late to post it.
Workmines existed since 2017 and you might join it way before I even knew about it. I’m sorry if you have lost money with them.
Was Workmines Shut Down For Good?
Since June 6th, 2019, when you enter workmines.com in your browser, you only get this text:
There is no message like “we are doing maintenance” or “we are having temporary issues and working on fixing them”.
Nothing of the sort. Looks like the whole Workmines domain was just taken down, canceled, ceased to exist.
Thursday was a new payment’s day, the members expected to see the money on Friday.
No money and no website.
What Happens With You Money In Workmines Account?
Many members had substantial balances in their Workmines accounts. Was it real money or just a number on the screen?
Unfortunately, looks like there is nobody you can ask about, as Workmines has never published any contact information, like physical address, phone numbers or names of the executives.
The company was registered in Latvia. I guess you are not going to fly there to look for it.
There used to be local representatives in several countries, but see what one of the readers wrote in a comment to my Workmines review post:
No representative picks up the phone. Too sad.
What can be done now?
Let’s take this disappointment as an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson for the future. I’ll try to help you understand how you could see that something was wrong with Workmines and how to avoid making this mistake again.
You can find legitimate ways to make money worldwide in the post below:
How To Make Money Online From Africa and Asia
How Could You Know Workmines Is A Scam?
As I suggested in my review, there were several “red signs” that gave a good clue that this site is a scam.
Unrealistic Rewards Model
The reward of $0.4 for watching a 45 seconds Netflix promo video is far fetched, as no real advertiser would pay that much.
The ongoing rate paid by legitimate websites (see Swagbucks, for example) for watching video is about 1-2 cents per several minutes. You will have to click on some buttons while watching, to prove that you are paying attention and not just leaving the video to run on the unattended phone.
No Real Free Plan
Workmines had offered a free trial plan, but it was impossible to withdraw any money made during the trial without purchasing a paid plan.
Aggressive Referral Incentives
Workmines model suggested that in order to make the substantial income you have to invite new members to the system. That’s why they restricted the number of videos you can watch every day. They didn’t want you to “work” for them, they want you to bring your friends into the system and get them to pay the fees.
Terms of Service That Deny Customer Rights
If you took the time to read Workmines Terms of Service, you could see that the documents only protects the company, not the customer. No refund policy, the right to cancel your membership without any explanation, no earnings guarantee. All these sections gave a clue about how Workmines is going to treat its members.
How To Identify The Next Scam?
Your money with Workmines is gone. Did you learn the lesson and would be able to stay away next time someone offers you to join a new platform, promising to make you rich quickly?
**UPDATE** – May 2020:
There is a new version of Workmines called MIDJOBS. Be aware! Here is the review:
Is Midjobs A Scam Or Legit? Midjobs Review 2020
I have written a post about work from home scams several months ago, you can read it here:
Seven Ways To Avoid Work From Home Online Scams
Here are some key points to think about:
Realistic business model
There is a Russian proverb that says something like “you can find free cheese only in the mousetrap”.
Imagine someone calls you and asks to walk their dog for 30 min, promising to pay you $100, while the ongoing dog walkers rate is about $20 for 30 min. Would you happily accept the job? Or refuse, thinking that there should be a catch behind this generous offer?
Maybe, the dog is too dangerous? Maybe they plan to rob your house while you are walking the dog?
Only join websites with a realistic business model, where you can easily understand how BOTH sides can benefit from the relationship. In Workmines case, it was clear how the members could make money, but it was not clear how the advertisers would benefit from paying so much money for you watching trailers.
Don’t let greed to pull you into the next scam.
Payment That Matches The Skill
This point is actually similar to the previous one. There payment you are promised should match your skill. The more you have to learn to do the job, the higher is the payment you can ask for. It also has to do with demand and supply, the industry, etc.
Taking online surveys usually pays in the $2 – $5 per hour range. Watching video pays cents per several minutes.
Some of the legit sites for this are:
Working as a Virtual Assistant can earn you between $10 to $25 hourly rate, based on your experience.
One of my Business Analyst contracts in NYC paid me $92 per hour in 2015. It was a time of very high demand for this type of jobs.
Payment depends on your skills and sometimes location, but it has to be within the common industry range. Anything higher than that (especially WAY TOO HIGH), should give you a red alert.
Be smart to understand that no legit company is going to pay you high rewards for doing almost nothing. No magic here. Not online, not anywhere else.
Paid Membership For GPT sites
Never pay anything to join a GPT (Get Paid To) website that promises to provide you tasks. If they want you to work for you, it should be simple: you do the job, you get paid. No membership fees, no signup or processing fees.
Here is a list of legitimate survey and GPT sites for 2019.
Referrals As Main Way To Earn
If the main way to earn with a company is to bring new members, it’s probably a Ponzi scheme or a pyramid.
Pyramids are usually multi-layered, meaning you will get fees from your direct referrals and from their referrals as well, sometimes as deep as 7-10 levels. Only the first joiners have a chance to earn in such a scheme.
Ponzi scheme is where John’s money (like membership fee) is used to pay Jack, and Jack’s money is used to pay James and so on. I think this was the story with Workmines. Ponzi schemes are more difficult to detect as they can keep paying for months and years, deceiving people who think that if it pays, it means it’s legit.
The most famous Ponzi scheme was run by Bernard Madoff, with estimated fraud of about $65 billion. Read about it, it’s actually fascinating.
Unknown Owners
Legitimate websites provide information about their owners and their experience in the industry. They have a physical address where their headquarters reside, phone numbers you can call, support teams that can be contacted via email or instant chat.
Check the websites with BBB (Better Business Bureau), TrustPilot and other online resources.
Do The Research Before Joining
Don’t believe everything you see in Facebook Groups and other online sites. Even don’t believe your friends who invite you to join “a new exciting opportunity to get rich in several months”. They might be deceived as well.
Do your own research!! Type “Is Website XX is a scam” in Google and read several reviews. There are many bloggers like me who have been doing this type of research for a long time and have seen many cases of scams. Vast experience helps them to detect the red alerts and warn the readers.
Some bloggers might be biased if they promote similar opportunities themselves. That’s why I say “Read more than one review”. Understand the reasons behind the blogger’s opinion. Make your own conclusions.
Never Risk Money You Can’t Afford To Lose
If you decide to join a new opportunity and it costs money (which is ok for new business, not for GPT site) – you’d better not invest money that you can’t afford to lose. Not your rent or food money.
Only spend the amount you can live without.
Can I Ask You Something?
Please leave me a comment with the following information
#1 How long have you been Workmines member?
#2 What is your net loss or profit? You can calculate it like this:
(Sum of your withdrawals) – (Total membership fees you have paid) = Net Profit / Loss
#3 What other “make money online” platforms do you use now or were recently offered to join?
I’d like to check other websites and help people stay away from scams.
Here is my current list of recommended ways to make money online:
How To Make Money Online From Africa and Asia [Legitimate Ways Only]
Get Paid For Watching Interactive Ads
The only app that currently is focused on watching video clips and really pays is Zynn. It’s a new app (from April 2020). It pays $1 sign up bonus. Easy money for watching video clips, similar to Tik Tok. Zynn pays to PayPal immediately. Works in the US and Canada only. (>>Zynn full review).
In addition, I recently started using Dabbl – a small app that pays you for watching the fun and interactive ads from brands that you might be interested to discover.
They also have some surveys and partner’s offers. My average reward from Dabbl is $5 per week.
They pay with gift cards, like Amazon Gift Cards and many others, starting from a minimum of $5.
Get Paid For Testing Apps From The App Store
If you are a US resident and iPhone user, you can make money for downloading and testing apps.
It’s very easy and pays to PayPal or with Amazon Gift card.
The app is called iMoney and you can read my full review and user guide here.
Same thing just happened with midjobs lol
Nor surprising at all.
Hope you didn’t lose money.
Mary
Hi mary! Its almost a year now since this thread was posted and another website is on the move now (and with the same scheme) – http://www.midjobs.com
Thanks. Just an info.
Hi Van,
Thank you for letting me know. It really looks like another scam.
I’ll try to write about it soon.
Mary
Hi Mary. Unfortunately Im now into the new one that’s out Midjobs. Any advice please… I’m currently just trying to get my money back and that’s it. Although I’m not on the biggest packages thank goodness. But any any advice please. Iv managed to track some interesting characters and info on social media… Tried to share if with the users that I know are using it and we’ll let’s just say they got very upset with me for even sharing the info.. . Anywhoo any advice??
Hi Michelle,
I posted my Midjobs review 2 days ago:
Is Midjobs A Scam Or Legit? Midjobs Review 2020Is Midjobs A Scam Or Legit? Midjobs Review 2020
You can share it with your friends and hope it will stop them from joining this scam.
Otherwise, you know, you only can bring a horse to the water, can’t force it to drink.
I had many mean comments on my posts about Workmines, accusing me of being “an enemy of progress” etc.
Well, history proved I was right and those who listen and gave up on their greed were better off.
I’m sorry you lost your money. I don’t believe there is a way to get it back. What payment method did you use?
Please comment on my Midjobs post with your experience or/and write me to that email.
Mary
Hi! Mary
May I ask about this site Cashload.net if this is a scam or legit?
Thank you
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Before diving in too deep – it looks too good to be true and probably is not reliable.
If you already signed up, checked if you have used the same password as you use for important things like your email, PayPal etc.
They might be collecting and selling information.
I’ll try to check more in the next few weeks.
Mary
Hi please help. I have just been introduced to the following business OMEKA? Is it a legitimate business to be part of?
here in the Philippines, there’s a mix of news about workmines. Some gives hope other’s say it’s totally gone. It’s very frustrating. It went down minutes after I upgraded. Just wish they would just say it’s a scam if it is so people like me won’t keep thier hopes up.. it’s so sad that there are people who scams other people.. may thier conscience deprive them of sleep.
Hi Leopoldo,
I’m sorry you lost money. The scammers just moved on to another similar site. They will never stop as long as people fall into this trap, moved by their greed. Please understand that you can’t make a lot of money without real effort.
Mary
I knew it from the first day I saw it and I warned people. Unfortunately, there are many sites of its kind. I think governments must warn their people otherwise people will still cry.
Hi,
I’m glad you didn’t fall a victim and tried to warn others.
In the US, many scam websites are shut down by authorities, but it takes time.
People just need to think critically and calm their greed.
Mary
Good day Mary
Thanks for the information shared and it is very enlightening.
Can I kindly ask you to look into crowd1.
Hi Momo,
I’ll see if I can do it later. Going on vacation next week.
Mary
Am melvin from Kenya,am also a victim of the workmines…I just made an upgrade two weeks ago…I made a single withdrawal….
And my money is gone I don’t know if there is a refund????
Now I know!!!!
If there is any assistance….
I will appreciate Mary.
Sorry, Melvin, I don’t see any help on this.
Just try to take it as a learning experience.
There are more sites like this. Don’t fall again.
Hi Mary! Is karatbar legit or just another scam
I didn’t do any deep research on this yet. It might be legit, but looks like not the best way to invest.
Mary
Hello Mary ,workmines cheated 950 US$ for me ,I paid to workmines via (bitoasis) payment gateway using my credit card.
Is there any chances to get my money back complaining to PG or c.card company ?
You can try filing a dispute with your credit card, but I’m not sure what are your chances to win here.
Nothing to lose though.
Hi Mary, i have been following up your reviews in connection with workmines, I had put in $250 last week one of my work met introduce me to it. Am afraid that i lost it,for there no sign of a refund. i don’t want the same mistake to repeat itself, your advise will be highly appreciated.
Regards
Bright (Zambia)
Hi Bright,
I’ll try to publish more reviews soon. Let me know if there is any specific offer you want to know about.
Mary
Hi mary , it was nice ưhen you share this information
im lost 1900$ im borrow my friend bcz they said after1 mone can getback. now i dont know what can i do now.
someone copy and pasted your article here:
https://mlmmXXXXXXXXXX
Hi Nicole!
Thank you so much for telling me.
Should I take it as a compliment?
Well, I filed a complaint with Google for stolen copyright.
Mary
Thank you so much Mary. I have heard informations about Workmines about the past 2weeks and now i get Money tout subscribe. But, before that, i have the *saved* Idea to read something about and i fell on your blog. Thank you for saving my money. I have also readen your post about Worlwide Money making sites. I woul like to trust you and try them. I shall return for a comment if they are good. I also subscribe. You Can send me a mail to help me on my choices. I’m from Benin and lived at Cotonou.
Salutations
Hi Eben,
I’m glad you didn’t fall a victim. I’m learning now that Workmines has older and younger “siblings” – very similar sites, probably from the same owner, that do exactly the same.
Be careful!
Only critical thinking can save your money from another trap.
Mary
I open the site of workmines in short period of time yesterday around 7pm Philippine time I have 1 week to monitor after that I will report it to interpol cyber crime if workmines not comback
Hi Mary, workmines didn’t communicate yes, but you say a company must communicate to show professionalism. I see same company like workmines walletsync they do communicate that the system will be down and when will it be back so does that mean they are professional and not a scam since they are also a Get Paid to? Or they are just doing it know to attract more people to them.
Hi John,
I just looked at walletsync and kind of laughed. I think it comes from the same designer and owner as workmines. It was created at the same time as well. Are they saying they are going to upgrade?
Let’s put it simply – their business model is the same unrealistic model as with Workmines.
NO REAL SITE WILL PAY YOU THAT MUTCH FOR DOING NOTHING (watching video on your couch).
They are all same scam. Sorry to disappoint.
Mary
Mary. You use the fact that Workmines is shut down as an “I told you so” to put links up, using the desperation of others losses of finance to your financial gain. That’s not wisdom at all. That’s trickery.
Hi Major,
It’s your choice what to see and what to learn from what I say.
First of all, I want people to understand how to identify scams and stay away.
Second, I show them some legit opportunities and openly say what they can get there.
The fact is that people are in need for this information and search for it in Google.
I see that I was lucky to help some folks to save their money and I’m happy about it.
Hi Mary, I was about to invest by purchasing a plan but couldn’t go through on Friday due to system shutdown. I am more enlightened now by your review and I don’t think I will waste my money on this scam.
Thank you for the good work.
Please contact me on email, I need more advice from you.
Hi Abner,
I’m glad you stayed away from this scam. Beware – there are many others out there that look exactly the same.
Please learn to detect them!
I’m not contacting readers on emails, apologies. You can ask your questions in comments.
Mary
It is disturbing that Workmines did not advise people their intentions to shut down if it is temporary. Hedgefinity did the exact same thing, disappeared without a trace with people’s money. Hedgefinity, Workmines and Walletsync have the exact same address, phone and fax numbers
Hi Londiwe,
What a sharp eye you have! I see that Walletsync has exactly same design and model as Workmines. But I couldn’t find their address or phone number anywhere on the website (which is lacking a lot of information, really). Where did you see it?
Mary
Hi! Can i have your permission to copy this part and share to my friends.. ? ?
Hi Juvyline,
What do you want to copy? It’s actually not legal, as a violation of copyright.
Just share the link to the post.
There are share buttons at the end of the post for Facebook and Tweeter as well.
Mary
Hi mary,
i lost all my money, this is really bad,
im speechless…..
Hi Francois,
I’m sorry to hear this. Did you do any research before joining?
Who invited you in?
Mary
Good day Mary. Thanks for sharing your opinions.
Kindly assist, Is Karatbars legit or its scam?
Kind Regards
Hi Sanele,
From a quick check, I would recommend staying away from it.
Mary
Karatbars is legit as they come. They have been around for almost 9 years and they are teaching how to save your money in Gold. I have been with them for 4 years now NO SCAM there. If you want to create wealth long-term and pass it on to your family then KARATBARS is most definitely the company to do it with
I didn’t say they are not legit, but I can’t say this is the best way/price you can get.
Hi there
Karatbars is legit as they come they have been around for 9 years or more and we are in about 136 countries now growing bigger every year. I have been with them for over 4 years and have been saving my money in Gold which hedges you against inflation and crash in the economy. Fiat currency is not worth much anymore hence things get more and more expensive but the banks won’t tell you this and in their volts are stacks and stacks of Gold. Take it from me invest your depreciating fiat currency in Gold and this will be a long term wealth builder for you and your family and generations to come. Please Mary don’t advise people to stay away from a company you have done no research on and you have no clue about. All the information about Karatbars is everywhere and I don’t think 600 000 affiliates all over the world would join a scam I don’t think MasterCard would join a scam aswell as FedEx and all thise major companies have joined with us as they know the company is LEGAL AND LEGIT and believe in the CEO’ s vision
hi i just hope workmines start working again ,to prove all you guys are wrong cause if you right i will lose R12500 praying its an upgrade cause they needed an upgrade ,just when i entered it shud down ,
Hi Ashley,
It’s not about who is right or wrong. It’s about understanding the simple truth – you can’t make a lot of money by doing nothing. Watching video on your couch can’t be paid more than $30 per hour (translate 40 cents for 45 seconds, you’ll see).
There are no miracles. Stop dreaming.
Sorry for being harsh, I just don’t want you or anyone else make the same mistake again.
Get real, please
Mary
HI Mary, I was about to Invest but glad I didn’t. Before 5 days back it was saying on the website that access not granted. But now as of June 10 it is saying Service Unavailable HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable. Good thing I waited. 😀
Hi DJ,
Please, do some research next time you are considering a new opportunity.
Same people who run Workmines are running other “twin” sites, based on people’s greed.
Don’t play to their hands.
Mary
Hi Mary,
Thank you for the wonderful feedback highly appreciated.
Do you have any legit sites that I can use to make extra money online.
If yes I would appreciate if you can send me the links via my email thank you.
Regards,
Hi Patrick,
I’ve listed some sites here. I’m planning on adding more, so check later as well.
Mary
I am on IT industry, and the time frame on days they were down is not normal. Its probably a scam. Fixing a database wont take many days. Its getting close to 1 week and seems, its going down anyway. But if they will be up in no less 1 week, that’s going t be a point factor. But as of now, June 10, 2019, the only way to contact them is through country representatives, in which those people have not personally meet the creators, they were only used. I pity those country rep. It will be a lesson learned to all
I not hear any news and just start it with workmines .now I’m feeling scared will they are really have company or just they make us foolish
Hi Rana,
At this point, there is very little hope to see them back up.
Sorry to disappoint.
Mary
They’re are defending this downtime by claiming that “they’re just doing an upgrade”. 30 minute downtime without any warning or clear explanation is unacceptable. How long it’s been anyway 2 hours, 24 hours, 2 days?
Any legit company will release notifications for any upcoming updates, service interruptions, or current status of the business in a timely manner to avoid panic. Even Gmail, YouTube, and FB (all offer FREE services) will release service interruption notices whenever there’s an issue.
The customers are holding on to the “Don’t Panic” sign.
Hi Louie,
I work in IT, so I can tell you that downtime of more than couple of hours is totally not acceptable without any real reason.
Being down for days, without even a message on the website – can’t be an honest thing.
IT companies test their changes in testing environments and deploy (go live) only when everything supposed to work.
Issues can happen, but there is no reason for so long downtime and keeping people unpaid as promised.
I don’t see even “Don’t panic” sign. It’s just “website unavailable”.
Mary
I like your explanation. Just a question.
Why is there a typo error in your blog? (Get Pais). Are the links you have given safe?
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for noticing – it should be Get Paid To. I think it’s fixed now.
The links are totally safe and hand picked by me.
They are affiliate links though. I’ll get a small commission if you join and get paid by these sites. It has no impact on what you can earn.
Mary
You have time to write about the negatives things, you should try to get enough evidence first before saying bad things about workmines.
Yes the system was down and the members were told that the system is slow and there will be a massive upgrade. They were also told that between the 6th june to 15th june they will be monitoring how the new system works, if it doesnt perform well they will go back to the old system.
As you all know in construction industry if i may give an example, there are time frames stipulated to get the works done but they never finish well in time due mostly to the following causes: extra expenses on management personnel, cost escalations of materials, increase of financial cost, paying contract penalties, and so forth same applies to workmines there is a reason behind the delay. There is nothing that is perfect in this world.
Now the new system is up and running with new features what are you gona say about that?
@Ona, is the new system really up and running? I hope that it’s true because I have just paid for a Platinum plan and I should have been paid today.
I think you know something that some members don’t.
Thanks for giving us hope.
Hi Ona,
I don’t see Workmines back yet. Is it working for you now?
I work in the IT industry and I know exactly how any upgrade should be managed.
Every change is tested in Quality Assurance and User Acceptance Testing environments before it’s released to Production (goes live). There is no way for such long planned downtime. The system should be taken down for a very short period and the message should be communicated to the users who try to connect at this time.
There is no message on Workmines’ site and the downtime is WAY beyond the industry standards.
Even if they ever come back, it shows a total lack of professionalism and raises a red flag.
Mary
I definitely agree with you. I am also in the IT industry. Any professional company should plan for upgrades and ensure minimum interruption to business. Professional businesses always have contingency plans to be 99.99% online.
Exactly! You know what I mean.
Hi Ona,
But .do you call this a delay ? I am an optimist person but at this time , i don’t think workmines is a legitimate company. Yes ,we learn from our mistakes. I even invested borrowed money ,and now….
Thanks Mary
Amata
Hi Ona,
Thank you for the little hope you gave. Please let us know the real situation. I am really sad today for all the negative news I heard.
hi Mary, I read your review of workmines very late while I had already invested almost $300 in it. on the same day I read then I realised it is not working though I had withdrawn some money before. Anyway I appreciate your review and wisdom in you. Keep on sharing wisdom on this platform. I fear that I might have lost my money.