Don't give up even if others say otherwise

It is possible, if your competing directly with someone in the same niche selling similar stuff: someone may give you bad information. But I'm not sure how much that applies here.

It is more likely however that people give you advice based on their personal experiences that do not apply to your situation, or people who give advice with no real world experience to back it up, etc... These kinds of things I'm sure have sidetracked me before when I was new to IM.

I personally have benefitted a lot from interacting with other Internet marketers here.

I think you can only be led astray if you let yourself.

If you have your wits about you then it becomes very hard for people to take advantage of you.

Utilize what people share or what you learn for what YOU are doing. Don't try to become everything else everyone else is. It leaves you scatter-brained and frustrated.

I don't ever feel like the information I've learned here or online has been bad information--I just see it as necessary stepping stones on the way to your own success. I've spent a lot of money learning things online and spent a lot of time--I've learned that if you just keep with it--DON'T GIVE UP--keep chipping away at it until you get where you want to be--then you will reach that space you want to be in.
Too many just give up, throw in the towel early because so many marketers teach that you can make it quick with their systems--which you most likely could--if you got out of your own way.
I have been a HUGE fan of author/radio host/tv personality Mel Robbins for some time now--her books and videos have been a great influence on me--and as she says it best in her TED talk: F--- U! How to Quit Screwing Yourself Over is a GREAT video to help move you into action

I know most of the people in this forum are great people and would never sabotage another business on purpose.

But I think you're forgetting the fact that a lot of successful marketers became successful because they built on their mistakes and moved on.

Did some of their mistakes come from bad advice? Sure. But successful marketers are smart enough to know that bad advice isn't inherently bad. It's simply an idea that doesn't work for their business or it doesn't work for their business right now. They know that these tips have worked for some people and accept the risk that if they follow it it may not necessarily work for them right away or it might not work for them at all.

Secondly, successful marketers know who to ask help from. They know how to ask the right questions. They eventually know who give good advice from those who have no idea what they're talking about and still have a good relationship with both.

Call me naive but I think it's better overall to believe the good in people. You build more bridges that way. You just need to be smarter when it comes to choosing what advice to follow.