Tips on Avoiding Work at Home Scams

By becoming more informed, restraining from joining offers on impulse and doing thorough research, you can avoid becoming the next work-at-home scam victim.

Every year, more people are leaving more traditional jobs and opt for working from their own homes. At the same time, work-at-home scams have increased at the same rate, and thousands of people a year are finding themselves victims of opportunities that cater to their wants and desires. Unfortunately, many of these people don't find out until it's too late and their hard earned money is invested and lost forever.

But there is a way to protect yourself and the solution is relatively easy: become informed, ask lots of questions, and at the same time, be aware of what you can do if you happen to fall prey to an illegitimate or illegal activity.

Inform Yourself

You need to be aware of the most common types of scams that disguise themselves as business opportunities. One of the oldest is stuffing envelopes and or assembling items from your home. While some of these assembly jobs are legitimate, the vast majority of them are not, so you need to educate yourself. Read the claim and the fine print. Many such ads don't mention that you have to pay something to begin. After you complete the task, your work will then be declined, with excuses that it's not good enough, or it was not done properly, and then, of course, you don't get paid. Many times, you send the money in, and all you get is an instruction booklet on how to place ads like the one you just responded to, in order to capture additional victims such as yourself.

Pyramid schemes are also very popular for those targeting work at home businesses. Many times, a pyramid scheme is disguised as a multi-level marketing opportunity, or MLM. There is a difference between the two. Pyramid schemes place their focus on bringing in additional people and very little effort or time is wasted on trying to sell a product. They don't make money from selling a product to a customer, but from taking money from people like you. Most of these pyramid schemes ask for an investment or purchase in order to participate or to receive your potential revenues. Rarely will you see any of the earnings promised. Legitimate MLM's make their money by selling a product.

Ask Questions

Many work-at-home opportunities say 'Begin Work Now' or 'Limited Time Only', but you must always ask questions. Don't allow yourself to be rushed into anything. And don't join unless all of your questions have been addressed and answered. Some questions may be:

1. What type of work you're expected to do.
   
   
2. How much money is it going to cost you, and if you have to spend money on supplies or inventory.
   
   
3. How will you be paid? If by commission, ask what percentage you'll receive.
   
   
4. How long has the company been in business?
   
   
5. Ask for the company's sales materials and product descriptions so you can see how focused the company is on their product.

Know What to do if You are a Victim

If you become an unfortunate victim to one of these scams you need to know what to do. First, you should notify the company, and talk to someone as high up on the business ladder as possible and make sure they're aware that you plan on informing the proper authorities. If they don't satisfy your demand for repayment or reimbursement, then report them to the authorities. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can report online at www.ftc.gov. Also report them to the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org. Then, report them to the Attorney General for your state. If you're not sure how to do that, go online and type in 'Attorney General' for your state and the results should show the information you need within the first few listings that appear in your search results.

Just remember the old adage. "If a business opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is'. Never let any business high-pressure you into making a decision on the spot, for any business that operates that way isn't a business you want to be working for.

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Additional Resources

Links

Identifying Work at Home Scams
Discussion on identifying work at home scams at the Work at Home Forum.

Work-at-Home Schemes
Article on FTC site on popular work at home schemes.

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