Avoiding Work From Home Scams
Work-from-home workers are sometimes easy targets for scam artists. Many people seek to rid themselves of their work-a-day office job for a perceived life of leisure by working from home. Take some advice from someone who has worked from home for over 10 years now. If and when you do start working from home, you will work harder and longer than you ever did at that dreaded office job. However, for most of us who work from home, the work is rewarding and the chance to be your own boss makes it all worthwhile. You really do become the master of your own destiny, be that good or bad. Sometimes it is good and other times, well… not so good.
One of the first lessons you must learn if you want to work from home is how to spot and avoid work-from-home scams. There are plenty of scammers out there who will take advantage of people who do not know their way around the work-from-home world. However, once you learn how to spot the scams, you will be able to avoid them and not fall prey to disreputable individuals seeking to steal your money just because you have a dream.
- If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.
I once answered a Craigslist ad for a personal assistant. The salary for this job was $1500 per week. Now, I know a lot of people who work as personal assistants and in other similar positions, but none of them make anywhere near $1500 per week. Well, come to find out, this was some sort of a scam. I’m still unclear about the details because right away, when I was contacted by the job poster, I could tell this was either not legal, or this person was going to rob me in some way. The job poster indicated that his company sold construction products to an international clientèle. However, he could not take payment for all of the items. Why? I never quite figured that out. But he wanted his personal assistants to accept money orders and cashier’s checks from international customers, and then cash them and give the money to him. In return, his personal assistants would make 10% of each money order or check. Now, I am no rocket scientist, but I can smell a rat. I immediately wrote this guy off. - Beware of people who prefer to interact anonymously.
Yet another Craigslist job offered payment of $10 per “project” for posting sets of five comments on different blogs, and using his client URLs in the comment posts. Easy enough work, but the guy only interacted with me via a Gmail email address. He never provided his last name, a phone number a business title or any other identifying information. He simply directed me to a Google app website where I would enter the five URLs to the comments I had posted for each “project,” or group of five comments. The comments could contain any sort of text, but the URL had to be for his clients’ sites. Apparently, he was generating traffic to his clients’ sites by doing this activity. For the first month, I did only a few “projects” and earned a little money, which was paid to me on time and in full via Paypal. Then came the week of Thanksgiving, when I was in desperate need of cash. Over the two-week span that included all of the Thanksgiving holiday, I spent about 80 hours completing about 65 projects. The day payment was to be sent to my Paypal account, I discovered that 64 of the 65 projects were “rejected” because, well, I never figured that out. The Gmail man said that apparently I had other people doing my posts for me. What??? I didn’t but what if I had? So what! But for 80 hours of work, I made a total of $10. - Beware of unsolicited work-from-home emails.
Ninety nine times out of one hundred, unsolicited work-from-home emails will be from scammers. Whether the email is some Nigerian money scam, or some “great” work at home opportunity, the unsolicited email rarely contains any information of value. There is a good chance that it is from a scammer who is looking to hook you into something illegal or it’s someone trying to steal your money. - Never pay for a job.
Some work-from-home scammers will ask that you put up some cash so they can “get you started” or to “purchase their work kit.” Don’t ever fall for this. If someone needs your services, they are fully expecting to pay you, not to take your money. The only people making money from deals like this are the people you are handing over your money to for the “kit” or the “equipment.”. There are a few, but very few, exceptions to this rule. If you do need special equipment to perform a job, the company will most likely guide you in obtaining the equipment, but in most cases, the company will provide the equipment to you. You may have to pay for the equipment out of your first check, but that is a different requirement than asking you for money up front. Never pay any money up front for any job.Also, never pay for job leads. There are several sites that cater to people who work from home. For example, if you are interested in jobs for bloggers, Problogger.com posts hundreds of legitimate jobs every week for professional bloggers, and the site is completely free. Freelance writers might want to do a Google search for “Cotent Resellers” or “Freelance Writer Paid Sites.” There are several legitimate sites out there and you don’t have to pay a dime to join any of them.
The FTC List of Work-From-Home Scams
The Federal Trade Commission operates a web page that lists several well-known work-from-home scams at: Facts for Consumers
Take a look at the site to educate yourself regarding these scams. In no time, you will be able to spot a scammer a mile away. And most importantly, trust your inner voice. If you have doubts about some work-from-home offer, let it go and keep on looking. There are real jobs out there, but just like with any other job, you will have to work hard at any work-from-home opportunity to be successful.
