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Top Ten Work From Home Scams
Sometimes it seems as if the word "scam" was invented for the Internet. In fact scams have always been around but today's scammers have refined their scams and transferred them to the Internet where they are able to reach a much wider audience. The "work from home job" scammers target people who are often particularly vulnerable and least able to afford to lose money to the scammers. Many people who seek work from home opportunities are disabled or are parents of young children and are, therefore, unable to go out to work. Other groups affected are pensioners who need a second income to supplement a small pension or people who are simply unable to find a job outside the home due to their age, location or the general economic climate.
These are the top ten work from home scams to avoid.
1. Envelope Stuffing
This is the classic work-from-home scam that's been around since the Depression era of the 1920s and 1930s. The envelope stuffing scam has now made itself at home on the Internet.
Promoters usually advertise that, for a "small" fee, they will tell you how to earn money stuffing envelopes at home. After paying the fee - when it's too late - you find out that the promoter never had any employment to offer. Instead, for your fee, you're likely to get a letter telling you to place the same "envelope-stuffing" ad in newspapers or on the Internet, or to send the ad to friends and relatives. The only way you'll earn money is if people respond to your work-from-home ad.
If you've been on the Internet for any length of time, you've probably received or at least seen these chain emails that have taken over from the "snail mail" chain letters. They promise that all you have to do is send the email along with some money to the top names on the list, then add your name to the bottom and one day soon you'll be a millionaire.
If you do this, you are liable to be prosecuted for fraud. This is a classic pyramid scheme, and most times the names in the chain emails are manipulated to make sure only the people at the top of the list (the true scammers) make any money.
3. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
If you've heard of network marketing (like Tupperware or Avon), then you know that there are legitimate work from home MLM businesses based on agents selling products or services and recruiting other agents to work in their team.
If the work from home MLM business opportunity is all about finding new recruits rather than selling products or services, beware: The Federal Trade Commission may consider it to be a pyramid scheme... and not only can you lose all your money, but you can be charged with fraud, too!
The easy test here is to check whether the company has real products for you to sell and earn commission as well as recruiting new members. If so, the programme is more than likely to be genuine.
4. The Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine Scam
Well, this one's at least half-true. To be completely true, it should read: "Turn your computer into a money-making machine... for spammers!"
Once you pay your money, you'll be sent instructions on how to place ads and pull in victims who want to turn their computers into "money-making machines."
5. Typing At Home Jobs
Many people who use the internet a lot are good typists. How better to capitalize on this skill than making money by typing at home?
Here's how it works: After sending the fee to the scammer for "more information," you receive a disk and printed information that tells you to place work at home typist ads and sell copies of the disk to the unfortunate people who reply to you. This is another scam that tries to turn you into a scammer!
Typing at home jobs have been in great demand since long before the Internet came into being. I can speak from personal experience when I say that most of the work was poorly paid and boring but low pay and dullness do not qualify the work as a scam. The ones to watch out for on the Internet are the companies that pretend they are going to employ you and require you to pay a "registration fee". If somebody has a job they want filled, they would not ask candidates to pay for the privilege of becoming an employee. If you take a job, you get paid by the employer, not the other way round. Look at what the advertising actually says. If it offers to sell you a programme to help you learn to make money from typing at home or promises instructions in some form, this is acceptable, you know what you are getting. Avoid typing work at home job ads that say they have a job for you and the fee is just to cover their administration costs.
6. "Just Call This Number For More Information..."
No need to spend too much time (or money) on this one. It will be a premium rate number, and that's how the scammers make their profit.
Save your money: don't ever call a premium rate number for more information about a supposed work-from-home job, a legitimate company would have a standard business number or even a free phone number.
7. A List of Companies Looking for Homeworkers
This scam is very tempting because the fee requested is usually low and the promises made don't seem exaggerated. You are asked to pay a small fee for a list of companies looking for homeworkers just like you. Sounds reasonable.
The only problem is that the list is usually a generic list of companies, companies that don't take homeworkers, or companies that may have accepted homeworkers sometime in the past. You would be better off picking companies out of the phone book and asking if they use home workers, you probably won't have any better success but at least it's free.
8. Email Processing
This is a twist on the classic "envelope stuffing scam". For a low price you can become a "highly-paid" email processor working "from the comfort of your own home."
Now... what do you suppose an email processor does? If you have visions of forwarding or editing emails, forget it. What you get for your money are instructions on spamming with the same ad you responded to in newsgroups and Web forums!
Think about it: they offer to pay you $25 per email processed. Would any legitimate company pay that when an auto responder system could perform the function at a fraction of the cost?
9. Medical Billing
Promoters will promise that you can earn a substantial income working from home full or part time, providing services like billing, accounts receivable, electronic insurance claim processing and practice management to doctors and dentists. They also may assure you that no experience is required, that they will provide clients eager to buy your services or that their qualified salespeople will find clients for you.
In this scam, you are required to pay hundreds of dollars upfront for everything (supposedly) you need to start your own medical billing service at home. You're promised state-of-the-art medical billing software, as well as a list of potential clients in your area.
Keeping safe from this scam can be tricky because it's true that medical billing is outsourced and there is a demand for reliable people to do the work and it is a job that you can learn even if you have no previous experience. Before parting with any cash, investigate the company. This is an expanding market, so fly-by-night companies will be popping up like mushrooms in the dew. Look for companies that have been around for a while. Look for ones that emphasise the teaching aspect and quality of their software rather than how their sales force will deliver eager customers to your door. Ask for references - and check them.
10. Craft Assembly
These programs often require you to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment or supplies, or they require you to spend many hours producing goods for a company that has promised to buy them. For example, you might have to buy a sewing or sign-making machine from the company, or materials to make items like aprons, baby shoes or plastic signs
Sounds legitimate? Well, once you finish assembling your first batch of crafts, you'll be told by the company that they don't meet quality standards.
Unfortunately, no work is ever "up to standard," leaving workers with expensive equipment and supplies - and no income. The scammer company is making money selling the starter kits, not selling the assembled product. So, you're left with a set of assembled crafts and no customer.
The best way to protect yourself from this type of scam is to make sure you carry out enquiries about the owners of the business before you part with any cash. Most companies offering this type of work or home sewing jobs will not require you to pay for materials etc.
If you are interested in craftwork, by all means buy materials online or pay for an online instruction course or e-book to improve your skills and to learn some "tricks of the trade" but bear in mind that you will need to find your own customers for your finished products.
Check the wording of the advertisement. Most advertisements will contain an element of what used to be called "advertising puff" but which is now mostly just called "hype". Don't believe every word of the advertisements, they are puffed up to attract you. When you look at the earnings potential the figures are usually huge (in number as well as typeface) and in smaller print you will see words like "possible" or "these results are not typical". You must expect advertisers to make inflated claims - after all, people would hardly rush to join a programme that describes itself as "quite good" or "just about ok" or "a bit better than average".
Read what the advertisements say, not what you want them to say. Suppose I said I could sell you information on how you could be rich by this time next week? For a small fee, I'll tell you that the secret is to buy a jackpot winning lottery ticket! You would be getting what you paid for but not what you hoped for. I haven't actually tried to market this advice but I have seen lots of advertising that comes close to it.
Be realistic in your expectations. If somebody claims you can get rich doing nothing or that they will do all the work for you, don't bother to even consider joining the scheme. If you want to earn money you have to work for it. If you met somebody offline who made these extravagant claims, you wouldn't believe them, take your common sense with you when you go online. The Internet is full of opportunities for people who are willing to work at them, it is not some sort of magic place where your bank account will fill up of its own accord.
Don't Let Scammers Get Away With It
If you are unfortunate enough to have been taken in by a work from home scammer, get advice from you local consumer protection agency as it might be possible for you to take legal action against the scammer. If you found the fraudulent work from home opportunity advertised in an ezine or magazine, contact the publishers as such ads are likely to be outside their acceptance standards. Even if you don't recover your money, you can have the satisfaction of stopping their nasty game.
If you want to work at home, visit our Work At Home Directory where you will find 100% genuine scam-free work from home opportunities and more money back guarantees than you can shake a stick at.
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