Here's some tips I found about how to avoid Work at Home Scams.

Know who you’re dealing with. The company may not be offering to employ you directly, only to sell you training and materials and to find customers for your work.

Don’t believe that you can make big profits easily. Operating a home-based business is just like any other business – it requires hard work, skill, good products or services, and time to make a profit.

Be cautious about emails offering work-at-home opportunities. Many unsolicited emails are fraudulent.

Get all the details before you pay. A legitimate company will be happy to give you information about exactly what you will be doing and for whom.

Find out if there is really a market for your work. Claims that there are customers for work such as medical billing and craft making may not be true. If the company says it has customers waiting, ask who they are and contact them to confirm. You can also ask likely customers in your area (such as doctors for medical billing services) if they actually employ people to do that work from home.

Get references for other people who are doing the work. Ask them if the company kept its promises.

Be aware of legal requirements. To do some types of work, such as medical billing, you may need a license or certificate. Check with your state attorney general’s office. Ask your local zoning board if there are any restrictions on operating a business from your home. Some types of work cannot be done at home under federal law. Look for the nearest U.S. Department of Labor in the government listings of your phone book.

Know the refund policy. If you have to buy equipment or supplies, ask whether and under what circumstances you can return them for a refund.

Beware of the old “envelope stuffing” scheme. In this classic scam, instead of getting materials to send out on behalf of a company, you get instructions to place an ad like the one you saw, asking people to send you money for information about working at home. This is an illegal pyramid scheme because there is no real product or service being offered. You won’t get rich, and you could be prosecuted for fraud.

Be wary of offers to send you an “advance” on your “pay.” Some con artists use this ploy to build trust and get money from your bank. They send you a check for part of your first month’s “pay.” You deposit it, and the bank tells you the check has cleared because the normal time has passed to be notified that checks have bounced. Then the crook contacts you to say that you were mistakenly paid the wrong amount or that you need to return a portion of the payment for some other reason. After you send the money back, the check that you deposited finally bounces because it turned out to be an elaborate fake. Now the crooks have your payment, and you’re left owing your bank the amount that you withdrew.

Do your own research about work-at-home opportunities. The “Work-At-Home Sourcebook” and other resources that may be available in your local library provide good advice and lists of legitimate companies that hire people to work for them at home. You may discover that these companies hire only local people and that there is nothing available in your area.

  

This is a very informative article!
I agree with you. Some websites are just too good to be true. People should keep in mind that nobody is paying you for nothing. For money you have to invest time and work. The funny thing is that people who get tricked into these ''too good to be true'' sites end up working as well. It takes a lot of time and effort just to sit in front of the computer and doing what they ask you to do.

I learn a lot from your article. I agree that we should check the company profile before joining. If it seems too good to be true then spend more time investigating the system.

Well, this should be implemented. Because investigating is the powerful thing you can do, upon putting yourself in a safe place. And I usually do this. BTW Thanks RyanP for sharing your informative post.

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This is great advice RyanP. I too have been scammed a few times because I did not do enough due diligence and I guess I was just too gullible. Thanks for sharing.

Wow, I have never heard a couple of these. About 20 years ago, I did get one of those envelope stuffing ones in the mail. I am fairly desperate for a job right now, so I really need to make sure I pay attention.

Great Article. The major tip I would give anyone is "If it sounds to good to be true it probably is." No one is going to pay you six figures a year to take surveys 2 hours a day.

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Another one to add. Any company that seems to be checking out just fine, you probably need to look at their compensation plan to find the fraud in it. Any company that pays you near 100% or 100% even is probably a joke. It may sound great with all the extra bonuses and high as heck payout, but honestly stop and think when you're looking over the comp plan. Do you understand it? Secondly, does it make any sense for a business to pay out so much? how does the company itself make any profit to stay alive?

That's one area I've noticed with some of these scams.

Great info thanks

Great thread!

Know the refund policy got my attention. Before you sign up for anything, know how much time you have to decide whether the offer really is too good to be true. And if you do decide to get involved then before you run out of time to get a refund, get as much information as you can from the program, try as many of the gadgets and gizmos associated with the plan and try to make some money. Make an educated decision as to whether it is worth it or not. If not, GET A REFUND!

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