Freebies and free offers are "for real"; they are offered by legitimate, reputable companies every day as a way to increase product visibility and get consumers to give their product a try. This is a marketing technique that has been employed for years and has boomed with the advent of the internet.

But not all offers for freebies on the internet have good intentions. Many are just trying to get your personal information so they can pester you with volumes more deals and offers. And many so called "freebies" are just getting you to click over to a website where you never would otherwise travel, or where they′re really interested in selling you something else or harvesting your credit card number. There may or may not be a freebie involved.

Here are some tips and tricks for telling a scam freebie offer from a real free offer that will end with you getting something for nothing, at least for no money.

• First, deal with freebies websites that have separate lists for freebies or free offers.
• Frequent freebies sites that update offers on a regular basis.
• Stay away from freebies sites that don′t give any offer details; good directory sites should have already visited the original freebies offers and give you a few details.
• Look for those sites that do offer up more than just a two or three word freebies description. You should leave the list with a pretty good idea of the offer listing you are about to find.

Details that will give you a good indication that freebies (and the directory listing them) are legitimate would follow along these lines:

• The exact product the offer is for (toothpaste, band aids, shampoo, etc.)
• Who can apply/where the offer is valid (in contiguous U.S., Canada, etc., international)
• How/where to apply (online, telephone, mail…)
• Additional requirements (survey completion, membership, trial period, credit card number…)

Of course, this list is hardly exhaustive but it is a good indication of the types of information a good freebies offer or freebies directory will include. In most cases it is fairly safe to assume that an offer with added details has had some human involvement and has substance to it. Those are the best freebies and free offers to go after for a happy ending.