Work at Home Scams Revealed!

We've all seen an ad like this, or something similar. I knew it was a scam, but I decided to give it a look, just to satisfy my own perverse curiosity. And you shall reap the benefits of my investigation.

As a premise, you should know that I've been unemployed now for the last month or so. In that time, I've spent a lot of time in message boards, forums, employment websites, etc... I'm sure you know that in these types of places, there are scammers lurking around every corner, trying to cash in on your hopes and dreams (or desperation). I'd say that %99 of all scams want some sort of cash payment before you can start "making money".

The particular variation of scam that I'm about to reveal to you, in true medical-school-autopsy fashion, is the internet variation of the "get paid to stuff envelopes" scam that you've probably seen in newspapers, and might have wondered about at one point or another. I knew a guy who looked into that one, so I can tell you that at it's heart, it's the same scam.

If you've ever spent a fair amount of time browsing job boards or free classifieds, like craigslist, then you've seen the following type of ad :

Home Processors - No Exp Nec. - $1000-$2000/wk PT
Position requires internet connection
to process orders from your
computer.
Hours are flexible, F/T & P/T
Opportunities as well.
No Exp. Necessary
Serious inquiries ONLY please.
For more information, please email
clickbling@ sendfree. com

(You can send an email to that address if you want. You'll get automated responses for about 5 days. Completely harmless.)

Get ready, beacause I'm about to cut this thing open and show you the guts!

So, let's say you decide to look into this particular "employment offer", with it's lofty promises of big money and commuteless days of bathrobe loungery. I just made up that last word.

The first thing that happens when you email to inquire about this "job" is that you start getting their emails. First, they'll tell you about how much money you'll make, and how you'll never have to sit in traffic, etc.. this is when they tell you that they want money upfront. That should be your first warning flag- you should never have to pay money to work!

So, let's say you buy the "training materials". Maybe you think that you're actually getting a job. Maybe you're just curious. Maybe you know it's a scam, and you want to try it because you're hard up for money and just don't give a rats rearend whether or not it is a scam.

Upon purchase, you will be directed to a site where you can download your "training materials", which in this case happens to be a handfull of pdf files. The pdf files will contain information and html. They will instruct you to set up a paypal account, an autoresponder, and a website.

Also included in the pdf files are the ads that you are supposed to post in job boards (to sell the pdf files, of course!) and the letters that you are supposed to feed into the autoresponder. One of the pdf files contains a short list of classified sites that are mostly defunct. They wouldn't want you to muscle in on their territory, after all!

So there you have it- you bought some pdfs that show you how to sell pdfs. It works the same with the envelope stuffing scam: you send $5 to some P.O. box , they send you a piece of paper telling you to get a P.O. box and place a classified ad that says "make money stuffing envelopes", then copy the paper they sent you and send it to the suckers who send money to your P.O. box.

They like to call it the business of being in business, but I'm going to go ahead and call it what it really is- a scam.