Craigslist "Work at Home" Scams - How to Protect Yourself

Craigslist.com is a popular website for buying and selling items, finding a pet or meeting people in your area. Many users are even able to use Craigslist.com to find a new job or career, and some are able to experience the convenience of working from home with their new job. Unfortunately, there are people who are interested in making money by scamming others into thinking they are involved with a legitimate work from home opportunity. Learn how to protect yourself from Craigslist "work from home" scams and what you can do to get your money back.

How to Determine if an Offer is Legitimate or a Scam

Since Craigslist is a free site, anyone can post just about any sort of job or opportunity that could be a scam. To make things worse, some Craigslist posters use an automated spamming program to post jobs repeatedly and throughout different cities. If you notice a posting that is re-posted every day or multiple times a day, this is usually a telltale sign that the post is a scam. Real job opportunities will centralize their postings to the city the position is in and will not post repeatedly every day.

Also, scammers tend to post "work from home" opportunities. Since many people would jump at the opportunity to work from home, scams target "work from home" opportunities to prey on people looking for a legitimate income. Craigslist users should always view a work-at-home opportunity with a skeptical eye. While there are some legitimate positions where one can work from home, such as setting appointments or telemarketing, positions that include stuffing envelopes or data entry are favorites of scammers.

Craigslist users should also be wary of the "Get Rich Quick" opportunities, which usually entail purchasing a membership, a product or e-book, or even a list of additional opportunities. Most legitimate positions would not make an employee or even a contractor pay a fee to work for them. Also, if someone really does have the secret to getting rich quick, they are unlikely to share it with the world for free on Craigslist. Scammers that advertise "Get Rich Quick" opportunities usually profit from the money they receive after you purchase their product, and then you must find others to purchase this product to make a profit.

Remember, when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is a scam. Also, legitimate work opportunities do not ask you to pay them; it is them who will pay you.

Learn More About the Company

Before you send money to a company, it pays to do your research. Try to find out the company name and contact information. Also, if it is not easy to contact them, they may not be a legitimate business. Can you contact them? If you cannot contact them on your own terms, it may be a scammer trying to make money.

Also, can you interview with them? Ask yourself what kind of company would hire someone based off of an e-mail, rather than requesting a face-to-face or phone interview. If the company does not require an interview, as a potential employee or contactor you have a right to ask them why. You can also ask them what kind of screening they do for their employees if they do not interview them.

Is the company overseas? A classic Craigslist scam involves a supposed millionaire from Africa who asks if he can send you large amounts of money orders to cash. In turn, he asks you to deposit part of it into an account or forward it to a third-party and for your involvement, you keep a certain amount of money. In reality, this scam is fraud. The money orders are fake and you can get in hot water with the authorities for trying to cash a fake money order. Beware companies or individuals overseas who ask you to cash money orders or checks and offer to let you keep a portion - these are almost always scams.

An Internet search could give you revealing information about the company or let you know how their scam operates. It is wise to do an Internet search of a company before you begin to work for them or before you send a payment. An Internet search will give you clues as to whether or not they are a legitimate company or you may find feedback from other people who have been scammed by the company.

Before You Apply

Before you apply, make sure to do some research on the opportunity based on the information given in the Craigslist post. Legitimate companies often list their names in the posting. Also, do not give any personal information such as a social security number or bank account number before you are such the company is not in the business of scamming. You may want to consider sending a query e-mail to the poster before sending a resume with personal information. You can explain to the poster that you would like to know if they are a reputable company with a legitimate job opportunity before you send a resume with your personal information. Most employers will understand your concern and a legitimate company will not have a problem proving that they are offering a real job.