Work from Home Scams: Don't Be a Victim

Recently on 20/20, there was a story on work from home scams. View their story at http://abcnews.go.com/2020/. As the industry of telecommuting grows, so does the potential of being scammed into losing money. Some people have lost ten to fifty dollars, and some have lost up to thousands of dollars. There are things you can do to protect yourself from being scammed and losing money. Read on to learn how to protect yourself and your money.

Working from home is ideal for so many people, especially parents. Setting your own hours, no commute, saving on day care costs, clothing costs, gas costs, and having more time for your family are just some of the benefits of working from home. Unless you have a job that you have worked at and they decide to allow some of their employees to telecommute, or work from home, it is very difficult to find a good opportunity.

Scams are rampant in the world of telecommuting. Promises of making thousands of dollars a month, benefits, and all of the freedoms working from home affords you, they are hard to resist.

But there are ways to avoid getting scammed. The main rule of thumb when looking for a work from home job is NEVER pay for a job! Just as if you were searching for any other job, it is not something that you pay for. You may be required to have certain equipment, but as long as the potential employer is not requiring that you purchase it from them, their sponsors, or partners and you can get it at stores or online like Tigerdirect.com and other reputable sources, then the request is acceptable.

Paying for a list of jobs is also not something that you should do. Most of the "jobs" that you are paying to get access to you can find on your own. They can not guarantee a job, and if they do, they are not being honest with you about their product.

If what they are telling you sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I have worked from home for years, and I know others that do as well, and I have yet to make thousands a day, week, or even month. Most of the jobs are actually contracts and you have a 1099 for taxes and will have to keep records. If the advertisement you see is telling you that you can make hundreds of dollars a day by allowing others to do your work, let me say now, there is NO JOB in the telecommuting field that holds true to that statement. IF you decide to have a home business, this may be true if you have dedicated hours and hours to make sales and recruit others to sell under you. There are many successful home businesses out there, but you must have superior sales skills as well as the ability to sell the business to others that will be successful enough to provide you with residual income.

The Better Business Bureau, though it is a wonderful web site, can not possibly keep up with every organization or business. So, if they are not on that site, do not think that they are good or bad, please continue your research until you have enough information to make an educated and comfortable decision. The same goes for any other regulatory site that watches online businesses. They do their very best, but there are so many businesses out there right now that they can not catch every one! So, do not use them as your only source of information.

Pyramid schemes are one of the oldest scams in the book. Pay a little to get to be a part of their pyramid, and the recruit others to do the same. I have never met a person that has made any money doing this; however, I know many that have lost money. So, steer clear of these scams.

Processing rebates from home is also another "lucrative" home job, according to many sites that say they can give you a job, at a fee, and you can make hundreds in a day. Screams scam to me, because it is one! Processing anything that belongs to another person is usually a scam because something as simple as rebates is not something people are going to hire other people to do. Again, never pay for a job or a list of jobs, or the "opportunity" to do something for someone else.

On 20/20, they were talking about people that are consultants that you pay and they help you find a work from home job. I can personally tell you that there are people that have reputable businesses with successful clients. But more often than not, they are scams and will nickel and dime you as long as you allow them to. There are some very easy rules to follow when hiring a consultant. The first thing is that they can not guarantee a job. They can arm you with resources, information, and websites that they have researched and found to be legitimate, but there is never any guarantee that any of these places will hire the clients. Ideally, you would look for a local consultant that can meet with you and that has contacts at the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Bureau. Not to say that every online or telephone consultant is not a legitimate business, but a local one is better because you can see them face to face, check their local references, and it is more likely that the local agencies will have information on them. You can meet with them. Sit down at your computer with them, even have your resume looked over. Some consultants offer resume writing services, additional research, organizational skills training, and many other services. The key is that you are paying for a service, not a job.

Always make sure that the consultant is just that, a consultant. If they advertise that they are a work from home job, a headhunter, or even a staffing agency, stay away because they are usually nothing more than a scam with a different name.

When you are surfing the net and are looking at different things that you would like to do for money, pay attention to the testimonials, employees, and names. Are they familiar? Have you seen these people or heard names that were very similar on other sites? If so, then chances are that these people are actors and have not actually had success with that particular business. When someone is trying to sell their job opportunity to you, it is not a job. It is a pyramid scheme, sales opportunity, business or investment opportunity, or a scam. Again, never pay for a job, never pay for a list of jobs, and never trust an actor that is telling you how rich you will become.

Get rich quick...never going to happen unless you win the lotto. Enough said?

There are so many forum based web sites out there to help you find a legitimate opportunity and they are free. One of the greatest for moms that I have been a member of since the beginning is called www.cafemom.com. There are so many other moms that are in the same boat we are in and they are not going to profit if they tell us about a great opportunity. You can become a member for free, join groups for work from home moms, be sure that it is a job and not a mom advertising her business (they DO let you know when they are doing that, for the most part), and go to the sites. There are also other sites where you can get free information and they are invaluable resources. Another site to get free information is www.ratracerebellion.com. They have advertisers that pay for a spot on their page and they have affiliates, so they are able to make it free for people like you and me that would love the job leads but know better than to pay for them.

In this article, you have learned some research skills, how to recognize a scam, and have gotten some sites to visit for free advice and job leads. This is great information and a wonderful way to get started! Come back soon to get some more information to help you in the world of telecommuting!