Ask anyone in the work force and they’ll tell you, working from home sounds like heaven on earth. The ability to set your own hours, work at your own pace, all without the big boss man looking over your shoulder….yeah, most of us could go for that. Unfortunately, a lot of carrots are dangled in front of frustrated job seekers, promising big bucks for working a few hours a day in your pajamas…but if you take the bait, you may find the carrots have a bad taste.
Work from home scams are a big business, and they are big because so many people readily buy into them. It all sounds good, but before you know it you have wasted both time and money, your get rich quick scheme becoming a go nowhere fast proposition rather quickly. Nowhere does the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” apply better than when examining various work from home opportunities. In this article we will examine some of the more nefarious offerings available, and hopefully help a few of you avoid the mistakes so many others have made.
The Mom Work From Home Scam. The is almost a cliché in its own right, the image of a suburban housewife making $2000 every week working only two or three hours each day. The pitch is to post links for popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo, and for only a few dollar you will receive a kit containing the links and instructions for posting them.
Unfortunately, that modest upfront fee that was asked of you becomes the doorway for monthly charges to their credit cards and bank accounts on the order of $50 or more. Even if you realize you have been scammed right away, the chances of recovering any of the lost money are slim.
Probably the biggest, most classic work from home scam of all time was the perennial favorite: “Make Money Stuffing Envelopes At Home!” This gem advertised earnings in excess of $1500 weekly. In actuality, once you pay your upfront fee (for administrative duties, of course), you receive nothing more than the same ad you responded to, with instructions on how to place it in newspapers or magazines. The only way you might see any money at all is if someone responds to your ad, which of course, they won’t. Of course by the time you realize you’ve been had, your money is long since gone. The crazy first cousin to the envelope stuffing scam is the “craft assembly scam” which follows the same template designed to separate you from your money.
Medical billing is one of the newer scams out there, where you pay anywhere from $300-$900 for everything you (supposedly) need to start your own medical billing service out of the comfort of your own home. You’ll be promised the latest in medical billing software as well as a list of clients in your area. The truth is that medical clinics process their own billing or outsource to professional, reputable firms.
The 900 Number Scam. This one doesn’t even pretend to actually have a job available. Their primary goal is to get you to call their 900 number, which of course costs money. That’s where they make their profit; they don’t even have to worry about coming up with a convincing con game.
Your computer is a “money making machine”. I love this one because it is so blatantly transparent. You basically pay your upfront fee only to receive instructions on how to place ads to pull in other people who want to turn their computers into money making machines. Picture a cat chasing his tail and you’ll get the idea.
So how do you avoid getting scammed in the work from home marketplace? It is surprisingly easy:
Rule #1: NEVER pay for the chance to work. No other employer would ask for money upfront before hiring you, so why should work at home opportunities be any different? The minute someone starts feeling for your wallet, run.
Rule #2: Verify the business. Make sure they have a physical address and a phone number, then call the number to make sure it is legit. To top it all off, Google them. Anything good or bad will be at your fingertips. Surefire warning signs of an illegitimate company include use of free web hosting or e-mail services, P.O. Boxes, and lack of a phone number.
Rule #3: Look for pie in the sky claims. If anybody is promising $1000 a week for a couple hours work each day, forget it. There are no shortcuts when it comes to making money. Either be prepared to part with some sweat or forget it.
Rule #4: Avoid spammed e-mail offers. Most fraudulent work from home offers come in the form of e-mail spam. The more incredible the offer sounds, the less likely it is legitimate.
If you truly want to work from home and exercise some measure of control over your time, your pay, and your life, the best thing to do is simply start your own home based business. Determine if there is a service you offer that people would be willing to pay for, then market that service accordingly. It’s not easy, and you won’t get rich quick, but it is the single most logical manner to achieve your goals.
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