With the proliferation of "pay-to-surf" sites comes a growing number of users who are cheating the system.

At last count, there were over 50 pay-to-surf sites on the Internet -- and with it are numerous opportunities for Web swindlers. Any popular search engine can help aspiring cheaters find a plethora of available programs for "P2S" websites.

In a matter of minutes, cheaters can find and install a program that will allow them to bypass the ad viewbars and other features mandated by the sites.

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One experienced cheater first started using the programs in March 1999 and says he makes a few hundred dollars each month by cheating.

"There's literally no limit to how much you can earn," said the hacker, who goes by the alias "Spike."

"If you max out one of the accounts you have, you just create another and refer another account to your main account. Then you get double the money plus a little extra for the referral."

The majority of P2S companies work through a viewbar on the surfer's desktop. When activated, the viewbar tracks sites visited on the Web in addition to displaying ads based on online activity.

Users are paid on a per-hour basis and can make more money if they refer others to the site.

Cheaters generally target newer P2S companies that are more likely to have weaker security.

The cheat programs are relatively simple; most of them merely cycle through websites or move the mouse -- making it appear as if the user is actively surfing.

A basic knowledge of Delphi or Visual Basic is all that's required to write up one of these programs, said one hacker.

"Moving a mouse -- or telling the browser to surf to another page -- is not really a hard job to do," said "TFR," a hacker affiliated with the United Hackers Association. "Programs that have more features are mostly coded by people with good programming skills."

A number of websites have sprung up in response to the growing digital chicanery.

AllAdvantageCheats allows surfers to get the latest updates for utilities that allow them to bypass many of the features for AllAdvantage, the seminal P2S website.

In addition, there are several forums for newbie cheaters to obtain information.

One bulletin board catering to cheaters boasts over 3,000 members where users can get the latest updates for cheat software and swap advice and tips.

Richard Kahn, CEO of PaidForSurf.com, said that his company deletes around 100 cheat accounts daily.

"(Cheaters) are responsible for a good amount of money coming out of the program, about 40 percent," he said. "They are lowering the payout for other users."

Kahn said his company recently installed filters that will catch 90 percent of all cheaters.

"These people are hurting our industry as a whole. Advertisers pick up on (vulnerable companies) and they don't want to advertise with them," said Kahn. "If there are any pay-to-surf companies that want to be here for more than six months, they have to find a way to get around the cheaters on the network."

In addition, Kahn said that his company is working with the FBI in catching cheaters and is building a database of names, email, and mailing addresses, in addition to IP addresses.