How To Avoid Work-At-Home Scams

By Jennifer V-E Johnson

You have considered a work-at-home opportunity, but not sure where to start. You hear from a friend about a work-at-home opportunity that has the potential to make a lot of money. You start thinking about what you would do if you could make the money you wanted and the ability to quit your job. Before you quit your job there are a few things to know before you consider a work-at-home opportunity. Approximately 99% of all work-at-home opportunities are scams. Remember, if it was that easy to make easy money, wouldn't everyone be doing it? Below are a few tips on how to avoid and recognize some of the biggest work-at-home scams. Check out every opportunity and treat it as a scam until you have proof that it is not a scam. Consider the following: Where did you see the ad or offer to work-at-home? Did the offer come by regular mail or email or did you see it on a sign on the side of the road? If you saw the offer by any of the methods above, chances are it is probably not a legitimate. However, if you saw the ad in a newspaper or magazine, there is a higher probability that the offer is legitimate, but that is not always the case. Stuffing Envelopes Stuffing envelopes is one of the most popular scams for work-at-home opportunities. You pay money to have the opportunity to stuff envelopes and sign up with a "company" to work-at-home. Then the "company" you work for sends a set of envelopes and ads similar to the ones you responded to. The idea is to obtain the names of people who are interested in working from home and also make money. If you had a mailing list with people who were actually interested, you could make some money, but that usually does not happen. work-at-home opportunities like stuffing envelopes are normally illegal pyramid schemes. The only money that being made is the money the "company" you work for made when you sent them money to register for the work-at-home opportunity. More than likely, you will not make money stuffing envelopes! Wait - think twice, if you are asked to pay ANY money up front. Any reputable company would be willing to deduct any "fees" from your first check. Any company not willing to do that, is more than likely trying to scam you out of your hard earned money before you can start your work-at-home opportunity. Working for Free Another type of scam is when you are asked to work-at-home making toys, clothes or ornaments. Everything seems to be legitimate - you receive the materials without paying any money and you are working to complete the products. Unfortunately, when you send the products back, the company will tell you that your products did not meet their "quality standards" and refuse to pay you. The products you made were fine and will probably be sold with the "company" making all profit and move on to the next victim. Avoid doing work-at-home making or creating products unless you are selling the products yourself. Consider selling your products not only to consumers but to wholesalers. Bottom line, you can protect yourself by deciding what products to make and by collecting the money yourself. Typing from Home, Medical Billing and So Much More... Sometimes, work-at-home opportunities make it seem that companies an overflow of work and they are willing to outsource it to people working from home. For example, you might be told that the opportunity is entering medical bills or typing legal documents into a database. These scams have one thing in common - all claim that you need a computer and that you have to buy and use "special software." The "special software" is normally from an unrelated company. The key to the scam is to get you to purchase the overprice worthless software. Once the software is opened and loaded you will not get your money back, because most software guarantees are voided once the package is opened. Be smart - check out what the FTC has to say about work-at-home opportunities. There are also reports from the FTC and from CNN. It is still a dream for millions to work from home. Unfortunately, thieves prey and play on the emotions of these millions of people. Be cautious - there are work-at-home opportunities. You may luck up and find a company that is local and needs extra help that will allow you to work-at-home. Working for another company is not always the best idea. You will probably not earn the income you could if you were to work for yourself by creating your own product and/or service. So ask yourself, before you take the leap - why consider working for these "companies" at all? All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Limited consent to preprint or republish this report may be posted, reprinted, emailed or faxed as long as the copyright and credit reflect "Courtesy of Jennifer V-E Johnson, Reston Expert and WashMetroHomes.com Real Estate." Courtesy of Jennifer V-E Johnson, Reston Expert and www.WashMetroHomes.com About the Author Ms. Johnson is the webmaster of http://www.washmetrohomes.com/freehelp, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding information to help improve the quality of your life.