| 10 Common Work at Home Scams to Look Out For |
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By: Aeyne Schriber
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Thanks to the current advancements in technology it has become possible for many people to work remotely in a society that has become increasingly mobile. Everywhere you look on the market there are mobile devices and gadgets and with the Internet, you are no longer chained to a desk in an office. This fact coupled with the current economic climate is encouraging people to look for alternatives for making a living. Many people are looking to simplify their lives by balancing work and family and so they are looking for work from home opportunities. If this sounds like you the good news is that it is possible to work from home if you know how to watch out for the scams. Like anything else the scammers know that there are people desperately searching for a way to work from home so they exploit it. Here are ten work at home scams to watch out for before you jump in with both feet: 1Work From Home Data Entry ScamsWhen it comes to data entry scams the old saying of “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” rings true in this case. As tempted as you may be, always move on if it sounds like a dream come true. Let’s take a look at a classic example of a data entry scam. You come across an ad: “Company Seeks Data Entry Workers. Work From Home Using Your Computer. Training Provided. Contact Us at XXXX.” Now this looks like a dream come true however once you contact the company you find you have to purchase the training materials for a fee to cover shipping and handling costs. When you get the materials they simply tell you how to repeat this scam and make money selling the bogus training materials to some other unsuspecting person. The data entry part is placing the ads like the example we gave here. If you have to pay for a job, walk away immediately. 2Work from Home Taking SurveysWhile there are companies looking to pay consumers to take surveys there are no authentic jobs where you apply and you are hired to take surveys from the comfort of your home. You can make money taking surveys online; however, you have to search for the companies that are legitimate. This is because many of the sites that offer online paid surveys are not really looking to find people to take the surveys. Instead they are simply looking to collect information so they can profit from it by selling it to other paid survey sites. So the people that own the site are making all of the money and the people seeking survey jobs are not making a penny. 3Work from Home Placing AdsYou may have seen these ads on news sites and other websites you may visit. They usually say something like “This work from home mom makes $6,175 per month placing ads. Find out how you can too by sending $5 for our information package and complete tutorial.” The ad is then followed by bogus endorsements from well known publications and the like. When you click on the ad you are presented with a form to fill out with your address and credit card information. What they don’t tell you until after you have entered your information is that you just agreed to have your credit card charged for $85 per month to receive their online training program. In order to get out of it, you have to do a chargeback on your credit card or cancel your card. What the program essentially is comprised of is a tutorial on how to make money from Google Adsense. What is stunning about this scam is that Google is not involved at all with it and it is allowed to go on. You can sign up for Google Adsense for free as long as you have a website. The $6,175 per month they claim you can make in the ad is possible; however, you must have massive amounts of traffic coming to your website so you can get paid for the ad clickthroughs. 4Envelope StuffingThis is an age old scam that can get you into a lot of trouble. The ad is worded to look like you will be working for a company sending out their promotions and instead you receive a tutorial on how to send out ads like the one you received. The ad asks you to send a money order to stuff envelopes for a company and what you are essentially doing is sending the ad out to others so you can scam them out of a few bucks. 5Work from Home. $3000-$5000 per Month PT/FT 5 More People Needed.You may have seen these ads online or plastered all over telephone poles and anywhere else you can imagine. When you call the toll free number you get a voice mailbox which is located in who knows where and you are requested to leave your contact information if you are interested in the position. Someone calls you back and interviews you on your job dedication skills, how motivated you are, and so on. What they are looking for is someone to buy into their MLM opportunity so they can generate passive income based on your efforts. You end up purchasing a lot of products you never use to push the person that interviewed you up the ladder while you end up with a garage full of products and less money than when you started. 6Work from Home Assembling ProductsThe ad typically says, “Work from Home assembling products for our company. Training provided.” Okay….this scam requires you to pay a large some of money for training materials and instructions for assembling products from your home. The company claims that once you assemble a certain amount of products they will purchase them and you will make a profit. What they do not tell you is that there are standards and if you do not meet their standards they do not pay you and then you are stuck with the items you spent hours assembling. 7Work from Home Processing Medical Insurance ClaimsThis sounds like a viable offer doesn’t it? The ad usually claims that you will make hundreds weekly processing medical claims from the comfort of your home. What they don’t tell you is once you attend the opportunity session is that you will be required to buy expensive software and engage in training. They also say you must make a decision immediately because positions are limited. When you are finished with the training you are required to find your own clients in a market that is very small or non-existent. 8Work from Home by Converting Your Computer into CashThe ad says something to the effect of turning your computer into a cash generator and that there is a large market for jobs from companies that are looking for people to work from home on their computer. It claims you can start earning money immediately when you purchase the job guide on a CD. Once you receive the information it does not amount to anything more than sites you could find on your own that “may” be looking for people to work from home. Usually the opportunities listed on the disk require you to pay more money for the opportunity while the seller of the disk sits back and collects a fee for referring you to the scam. 9We Need Help From Administrative Assistants. Work from Home.The ad usually says something similar as described above and then proceeds to tell you that you will be simply mailing letters to a list that they provide for you. You are then required to send them a specified amount of money for the mailing list and labels. They then explain how you can make loads of cash and they make it look legitimate. What the letter turns out to be is a chain letter where only the people at the top make all the money. 10Mystery Shopping……Get Paid to ShopFor some shopaholics this may sound like a dream come true. However, it is very tough to earn a living being a mystery shopper. The ones that do earn a living doing this type of work have been at it for ages and have gotten themselves established as a mystery shopper. Mystery shopping is used by retailers to gage the progress of competitors by collecting information however the scammers try to sell you lists of companies that “may hire” mystery shoppers. The ad is worded in a way that looks like the companies are definitely hiring but once you get the list it is up to you to determine whether or not they are hiring. Meanwhile you are scammed out of your money with a junk list in your hand.
If it sounds too good to be true, move on. If you have to pay money for the opportunity, move on. If the company does not have a track record and provides a vague identity, move on. The reality is that there is no easy way to work from home. There are many people earning a living from home but they had to persevere to become successful or convince their current employer to telecommute a few days a week. If you really want to work from home that’s great but be prepared to invest the time it takes to make it work for you.
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Inspiration...
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Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is? - Frank Scully
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Things never go so well that one should have no fear, and never so ill that one should have no hope. Turkish proverb
