Is LeapForce A Scam?


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Leapforce is a company that hires search engine results evaluators. If you don't know what that is, don't worry I explain shortly. But before I do, here's something you might want to know. This company has been in existence since 2008 and is a BBB Accredited. So that may be a huge plus if you live and die by the recommendations of the BBB.

What's your role with this company?

Have you ever searched anything on Google and came up with some really crappy results that had little or nothing to do with your original search (This is especially true when they update their algorithms. My fellow marketers will get that. Wink, Wink. lol) As a search engine evaluator your job is basically to review search results and rate them according to LeapForce requirements. This helps search engines improve their relevancy which is very important to their business. Because if their search results suck, you stop using sites like Google. They lose money because they have less people clicking on their ads. I know what you're thinking I could care less about helping a billion dollar company like Google. But think of your job as helping the web because your work will help make it easier all of us find the information we want. Aside from search engine evaluators, they have other opportunities as well. But the search engine evaluation is really what they're known for.

So what are the requirements?

Leapforce agents have to be 18 years of age or older.

Equipment Requirements: High speed internet access (Cable Modem, DSL, etc.) A personal computer running Mozilla's free Firefox web browser, version 12.x or 13.x. Up to date anti-virus and anti-spyware software

Basic Skill Requirements: Excellent web research skills and analytical abilities Excellent comprehension and written communication skills Many Leapforce At Home independent agent assignments require fluency in a language other than English. For these assignments, independent agents will be required to pass a language assessment exam. But this is only for bi-lingual assignments. They have English only assessments as well. Also due to the access of sensitive information, you will not be allowed to work publicly. You are to stay at your place of residence to do all of your work. So forget about working while you're away at “Moms” house or on vacation.

What about the pay?

“How much they pay” is quite vague on their website. In fact they just don't tell you. (Sigh.) However, it does state how often and what method is used for payment. Agents are instructed to invoice Leapforce for services completed once every 30 days, and pay is “via monthly check.” Also agents are instructed to sign a Non-Disclosure form, as how much pay is not to be shared; only that pay is guaranteed hourly. You're not an employee of this company. You're an independent contractor like 99.9% of most work at home opportunities. You can read this article about what that entails in terms of your own taxes and deductions.

If you don't like secrecy and want an opportunity where you know exactly how much you can earn, you may want to check out Fusion Cash & Swagbucks.com

Is this opportunity international?

Yes, they have love for everyone. Leapforce is worldwide! See their openings here.

Are there any fees or tests?

There are no fees of any kind to become an independent agent. However, there are two very challenging tests required. The exams test your comprehension of search engine evaluation. And if you fail the exams, you are not permitted to take them again. This policy may or may not be different by the time you read this. Either way we'll discuss the policy as it stands now later in my article.

How To Apply?

To apply to be a Leapforce agent, you must take a two-part exam which we've already established is pretty hard. If you pass the exam, you will be contacted via email and then hired. You can find an update list of available opportunities here.

If you just want to make money without having to jump through taking tests, you may want to check out Fusion Cash & Swagbucks.com instead.

Questions?

I'm sure you probably have more questions. If so, check out their FAQ section here.

Cons?

Obviously no company is perfect and you know there are always going to be complaints. So we've highlighted just a few here. Feel free to add any others that you may know of that we missed.

1. Leapforce does not disclose exactly how much agents will make and agents are also required to sign a Non-Disclosure form due to this. It always baffles my mind when companies are allusive about the pay. Why would you be coy about the most important part of the job? Suppose I go through the hassle of joining your company only to find out that the pay may not be ideal for my situation? It just seems to be counterintuitive for a company to do this. I'm sure there are administrative reasons why it's done. But as a potential hire, it still just seems ass backwards.

2. Agents are not allowed to take the exams again if they don't pass the first time around. That sucks. Sometimes you have an off day or you happen to be a bad test taker. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't do the job at hand. Well It doesn't really matter, you better be on your “A” game the first time around. This is probably will scare away a lot of people and maybe that's what the company wants to weed out certain folks. It definitely worked with me. lol

3. Allegedly to keep your contract current, you have to work at least 200 tasks monthly. I don't really know if that's true or not.

So is Leap Force legitimate?

For the most part it seems to be a legit money making opportunity if you can get in. But with that said, every company has some flaws and complaints that you should keep in mind. You'll find some people that love this company. Then you have others that don't like this company for various reasons that may be justified or not. You'll have to determine based on the two points of views and facts if it's worth giving it a shot. I haven't personally tried this company. So I could be wrong about certain things above. I would love to hear from people that have actually worked with this company to shed some light on things I missed or got wrong. I would also love to hear from anyone considering this company. By the way LionBridge is another company to consider if the LeapForce opportunity is appealing to you. Chime in below either way.

If this opportunity doesn't really appeal to you you might want to try some of our other options. We list various legitimate ways to replace your income, supplement your income and to start a business. So just pick the path that makes “Cents” to you if this company isn't really cutting it for you. I hope you enjoyed this article, if you did be sure to become a subscriber here and check us out on our Facebook fanpage.

31 thoughts on “Is LeapForce A Scam?”

  1. Hi, Eddy, I know you from Wealthy affiliate and I just happened to find your website. I like your site and will continue following it. Good info.

    Reply
  2. I have been working for Leapforce for almost 10 months now, and I can say that they are legitimate. I don’t have a business degree, or a Bachelor’s of any kind, but I do have an Associate’s in Web Design, so they do hire people without a 4 year degree.

    The application test was quite difficult; you have to study a lot of material and you aren’t compensated for any of the time that you spend studying it–which is a lot of time. I failed the test the first time I took it, but was offered another chance to take it again. I have read that a retake is offered to some applicants, but not to others.

    There is usually a sufficient amount of work available, although there have been a few days where there was little to none offered, but I would say that that occurred less than 7 days in the past 9 months.

    There have been some updates/changes implemented since this article was written. Leapforce now requires you to use Google Chrome for rating (which is also free) and most of the tasks that are available require a smart phone (Android or iPhone).

    Things seem to change pretty quickly at Leapforce, I guess this is due to the rapid rate at which technology develops and evolves. There are frequent updates to the way that rating is done and the guidelines used to assign ratings. Like with studying for the application exam, you don’t get paid to study the updated materials.

    There are also monthly quality reviews, which can be rather brutal, especially after a major guideline overhaul. An unsatisfactory review can either leave you with an account restriction until the next review (the number of hours that you are permitted to work is severely limited–usually to an hour or less) or result in contract termination.

    You actually can work when not at home, so long as you are in your country of residence. Leapforce just doesn’t want you to be working in a public place where people could be looking over your shoulder (for confidentiality reasons).

    The 200 minimum monthly tasks is still in the contract, but I contacted support about how many hours they want raters to work and they told be about 10 hrs per week is the ideal minimum. You are allowed to work up to 40 hrs a week (working over 40 hrs will result in contract termination); you get to decide how much you want to/can work within these limits (as long as there is work available).
    This type of work can become pretty mind-numbing rather quickly, however. For me personally, I found it very hard to sit at a computer completing repetitive rating tasks for 4+ hours a day (I was only working 30 hrs per week): so much so that I had to find a more physically active job to supplement Leapforce so that I could reduce my hours worked (I’m now working 10 -15 per week), but that I just my personal opinion.

    You do have to keep track of the time that you work yourself for your invoice; Leapforce doesn’t do this (even though they have you install an extension that supposedly tracks your work). Keeping track of this information can be a pain, but it is not difficult.

    While I can’t disclose the exact wage amount, I think that the pay is pretty good for an entry-level work from home job. It pays much more than my other “real-life” job (seasonal worker at a campground). One of the downsides to this position is that you’re an independent contractor, the hardest part of which is doing your own taxes, but this is the standard in many work from home jobs.

    This is the first work from home company for which I have worked, but overall, I would recommend it. I can say with confidence that it is not a scam. While it may take a while to get paid (due to the fact that payment is only once per month), I have not had any issues with receiving payment or getting my invoice approved.

    Reply
    • The test questions are based on the general guidelines (GG), which is a roughly 150 page file that outlines all the information necessary for the job.

      When I took the test back in September 2014, the first part consisted of questions that came directly from the GG and the second half was a rating simulation consisting of a few tasks.

      The rating system has changed since I took the test, so it might be a little bit different now than it was in September.

  3. I’m currently working as an independent contractor for Appen Butler Hill. The tests were tough, I won’t lie. Now that I’m actually working I can honestly say that there is a steady stream of work, I’m paid by the hour at good rate, and my minimum is only 10 hours a week so I have plenty of time for other things though I can take extra hours when they are offered. Different projects of the company have different needs and may differ in minimum hours and pay but overall I am satisfied and recommend this company as one of many income streams.

    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing Sara! I think with these opportunities they purposely make the test hard to weed out certain people. But once you get in you can make some decent side money as you’re a testament of.

  4. Terry,

    Thanks for chiming in with such detailed feedback. Your experience should definitely shed some light for folks considering this company.

    So what did you end up moving on to since you don’t work with LeapForce anymore?

    Thanks again for the insight! It’s greatly appreciated!

    Reply
    • Well, I am pretty much in the wind right now. I have recently picked up the book “$100 Startup” by chris Guillebeau, while trying to find some type of inspiration for the direction I want to go. In addition to that, I have been doing some research on the stock market and I think I want to start trading. I am continuing to look for more residual income opportunities that will fit me. I have done surveys and chaCha! (which they owe $25 dollars*). I kind of want to steer away from the tasks type sites because of time consupmtion…if that makes sense.

    • How ironic! I’m reading that book as well. It has some great ideas and should definitely inspire you. I thought about the stock market for a while too. But I realized I don’t have a passion for it. My financial advisor who is also a friend manages my investments just fine. 😉

      I’m sure you’ll find something that makes sense for you soon enough. The key is exploring different opportunities and learning form them even if you fail or succeed. I’ve been doing a lot of exploring of late as well and it’s been a great learning experience. Thanks again for sharing!

  5. It looks like they prefer if you have some kind of business degree, that sounds a little like you’d be over qualified, I don’t know maybe I’ll try it, sounds interesting.

    Reply
    • Well let us know. I really don’t know why you would need a business degree for this particular opportunity. It just sounds like a way to filter out more people.

  6. Hey Eddy,
    I worked for Leapforce about 2 years ago. I managed to get through the tests, but when it came down to actually doing the work things got a little more complicated. The tasks on the tests don’t always match the tasks they have in the queue and there’s no guarantee there will be any work when you log in. There are also 2 instruction/training books to wade through. As an agent you are expected to meet certain speed and productivity levels which I could not manage. When I turned in my hours for the first month they sent me an unpleasant email asking me why I hadn’t met the levels and what I planned to do about it. I responded to the email telling them that I’m a slow starter which I am, but I wasn’t sure if they were going to pay me. I think it took about a month to get the check and after that I didn’t pursue it any further. It turned out to be more of a hassle than my last full time job. Hourly pay worked out to around $13.00 at that time. I’ve noticed when I’ve come across them recently they want their agents to have a college degree now. So if you’re fast this might work out for you just fine. It just wasn’t a good fit for me.
    Thanks for this great site Eddy!

    Reply
    • Hey Cathy,

      Thanks for sharing your experience. It was definitely helpful and you can tell it wasn’t a situation where you were being malicious and hateful towards the company. I see a lot of that when folks chime in as this is there way to get back at a company.

      So I really appreciate the feedback! It was very insightful.

      Thanks for the compliment on the site!

    • Hi Cathy,
      You just mentioned that now Leapforce need Graduate/college degree candidates,..are you sure?…plz reply

  7. I just took a look at their website and scam alarm bells went off. They want an awful lot of information from me without providing much about themselves. I could not even find the fine print TOS that says what they will be doing with my real name, address, phone number and resume once I give it to them, much less what they pay or a good description of what the work is. I am not going to put the effort into an online search to see what others have said about it. The only thing missing from their website is the user testimonials of how a Midwestern housewife is making $6000 a month in her spare time.
    I’m sorry Eddy, but some other shmuck will have to sign up and try it and give you a review, not me.

    Reply
    • I do agree for the amount of information they are requiring they can be a bit more transparent especially about the pay as I’ve argued above. I don’t really have the same fear that my information is going to be misused because the BBB probably wouldn’t give them a good rating and this company wouldn’t be recommended as much as it has out on the web. That being said I’m sure there are some other pitfalls. So it will be interesting to hear from people that have actually or do work with the company to get some real insight. I’m not one to merely judge a book by it’s cover. There are a lot of things that people assume are scams but sometimes when I dig deeper, I’m happily surprised with the results. So I don’t make it a habit to call something a scam from looks until I do the research. But to each their own. I’m sure there are some negative things about this company as there are probably positive things. Hopefully we’ll get more of a balanced picture from folks that have actually worked with the company.

      Thanks for chiming in.

    • I didn’t mean to suggest leapforce was an outright fraud or con. But I have been trying to earn real cash online and have done some contract internet search work that has been not very profitable to me. Either the work takes so much time that the pay works out to about 18 cents an hour or less, or for better paying work it is so limited in volume that making $20 would take more than a month.
      Sense leapforce won’t tell me what they will do with my email address, they could legitimately turn it over to a third party for any use.

    • Thanks for clarifying that. I appreciate it.
      In terms of what you’re experiencing it all depends on your skill set. Folks that are doing customer service, website design, programming, running a home based business, affiliate marketing are the ones that seem to be making the “Real cash” that everyone longs for when they decide that they want to work at home.

      But you’ll notice a trend with all these opportunities they’re not easy. Something always has to be sacrificed whether it’s time, getting training or money. Unfortunately not everyone is willing to do that or can afford to do that.

      In which case you’re left with opportunities that anyone can do but won’t pay you as much and will take time to see real money. It’s like anything else in life, you’ll have to build your way up. I started in this industry by earning a few cents reading emails. Whereas everyone thought it was stupid, I saw the possibilities. I knew I couldn’t make a living reading emails for a few cents. But it showed me that making money online is a possibility. My mindset was a lot open to trying things that everyone else thought was a waste of time. Eventually it led to greater ways to make money. But I was willing to start from the bottom.

      Not everyone has that luxury. But there are plenty of ways to legitimately earn money online. But it may not always be the way you want. So that’s my two cents on it. I’m just basing this on my years of experience in this industry and dealing with people that have been successful and a lot that haven’t. You might want to read this article:
      https://www.workathomenoscams.com/2012/03/13/top-5-reasons-people-fail-at-work-at-home/

      I’m not saying this applies to you. But it may give you some insight.

    • Leapforce is legit. I have worked for them within the past year. They do background checks and pay you direct deposit @13.50/hr. I do have my B.A. in Business and I know that they prefer degree candidates. Onced CONTRACTED with them, speaking with fellow workers, some say they never received a degree in higher ed. You can make good money but you have to be consistent with the metrics or you will be dismissed from your contract very soon. Lets just say, Leapforce does work for MAJOR companies that does SEARCHES with a click FOR YOU all the time. So that means, these companies are constantly changing their requirements of Leapforce. If you can’t keep up, you won’t be there for long like me lol. In my case, I work a regular 40hr week on 3rds and trying to focus was the jacked up part about it. Being mentally tired, while trying to sit AT HOME, on a computer when I should have been sleeping did not add up. Now you can work as many or as less hours. I do believe you location will play a part in the amount of tasks you receive and of course how well you are meeting the metrics. I know they have an IM board for the workers and one worker stated how he/she lives in NY and complete upwards of 200+ hours/mo. to help pay loans off. With that many hours logged that has to be his/her only source of income. At least that is what I think. As far as location, I live in NW Indiana about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago and I never really experienced any shortage of tasks except when I started to miss the metrics and eventually being booted altogether. Leapforce is good, leapforce is legit. Now all you have to do is apply and probably patiently wait a month or two for them to contact you and the ball will be on the roll. Oh yeah! you have to pass those two exams which aren’t that hard if you actually read and study the documents that they provide to you. I laugh because I actually was relieved once dismissed from the contract because it drained me during times when I needed my bed. I do miss the extra money($1100/mo @ 20/hr/wk) but my sleep is working out better for me lol.

      have a great one!

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