Is there actually any proper non scam way to make money online?

You can make money, but only by coming up with your own business. Any of those make money from home sites are going to be scams that only make money for the people running the site.

Learn to make websites, or to program and freelance on the web, that’s one way to make a profit. Or you can learn to produce professional photography and sell them on a stock photography site. Those are just a few ideas on how to make money online. There are ways, but they require hard work, skills/talent etc. Anything that requires no skill isn’t going to be worth it.

@gorillapaws is telling the truth.
But there is a few websites you may tray like odesk, panel station.
Don’t use websites that requires money to register.

Yes there’s tons of legitimate ways to make money online, that don’t involve scams. The single easiest way to spot a scam is if there is any indication of a requirement or suggestion for you to put up money in advance for ANY reason.

Try oDesk.com and seek out work-from-home projects that suit your skills.

Otherwise, you can get a bit more adventurous and try to create a monetization opportunity yourself similar to gorillapaws’ answer.

If you have anything to sell, you can do it online, but any project that involves working for someone else is not going to have a desired outcome.

Think locally.

For example, where I live, I could work at home for the Home Shopping Network, as an order-taker and call center agent. Just need a computer, internet access, and a land line phone, as well as a quiet, kid-free room for several hours a day. It’s a job, at home.

There are a few companies I know of out West, California and Oregon specifically, that hire Work-at-home Moms to do their admin stuff and call center work as well. They just need to be close enough to report in a few times a month for company meetings.

There’s also a company called… I can’t remember what it’s called, but a friend did it for a while. They contracted out admin work from small businesses to stay at home moms.

Trade forex. It’s hard but profitable.

I’ve been self employed now since 1993 building Web Sites, first for businesses that needed a presence to act as a catalog or business card, then by 1995 for eCommerce sites intent on selling on the Web. I’ve made my living scam free for 20 years on the Internet, and I’ve built hundreds of eCommerce sites now whose owners are doing the same.

You can make money by doing surveys, but it can be time consuming and it’s literally just beer money.

If you have a trade or skill or can learn one, Elance.com is the way to go. I make my living through it.

You can also buy and sell things through ebay.com. Or import shitload of cheap stuff from China through Alibaba.com and sell it on your domenstic market or ebay.

Online Forex trade as @trailsillustrated suggested is another way to go.

thanks guys I will give them all a look. I am already registered on elance and freelancer.

@noodle_poodle What skills are you marketing on Elance and Freelancer?

@ETpro Design and illustration. Its what I trained for but I mostly take on more everyday jobs eg farm work, waitres’ing. I have never been very good at self promotion you see. I am a good illustrator but well it takes more than that these days.

It can be done, but @gorillapaws is right; you need to come up with your own concept, not sign-on for some scam.

I run a CPA practice online, and it’s going very well. I have almost no overhead, and I don’t need to commute. I set my own hours and work only when convenient (sometimes in my pajamas!). The business is so successful, it’s growing beyond the size that I’d intended.

@noodle_poodle If you think you have the talent for it, never say never. I knew this illustrator back when nobody but her next of kin and close friends knew who she was. Do you have a portfolio online?

@ETpro Ah cool. Good to know a few people make it. yeh I have a webby at ratbasket.co.uk but its been a longtime since I have done any self promotion and got involved with teh latest softwares and websites. I have some catching up to do!

Got time to do a sketch of a cottage?

@ETpro Always :) What are you wanting?

I’ll PM you about a job I’m working on.

Depends what you can invest. You can open the internet-shop. If you’re good in writing – start your own blog! It requires time, but eventually, it can bring you good income. And, for sure, there is always Forex, that you can trade. Although the last way is difficult at the beginning, at some point it might start generating the significant income.