Avoiding the 8 Most Common Work-at-Home Scams
By: Sylvie Fortin
Are you a scamaholic? Do you
find yourself seduced by those ads in the paper and on the
‘net that promise huge incomes with very little effort
on your part? You know what I’m talking about; those
ads that entice you with “part-time” jobs with
big pay offs, from the “comfort of your own home,”
and with little to no work on your part. I’ve even seen
ads that say you can make money while sleeping, watching TV,
or having sex. Can that even be legal?
If you’ve been sucked
into any of these work-at-home scams, don’t worry. There
is help. The first step truly is making yourself aware that
there are people out there who will scam you for your very
last dime. It’s your responsibility to learn how to
spot these scammers and stay far, far away from their traps.
To help you avoid these scammers,
let’s review some of the most common and successful
scams out there today.
- Envelope stuffing. Envelope stuffing is one of
the most popular scams. You won't be stuffing envelopes.
What you'll be asked to do is place the same ad (at your own
expense) that you responded to, in order to scam other
people.
- Email Processors. Email processing is the
e-version of envelope stuffing. Typically, you pay person 1
a fee of between $5-30 and then person 1 sends you your
'information kit'. This typically tells you how to take the
exact same ad you replied to and send it out by email or on
newsletters to convince others to send you the same fee you
sent Person 1.
- Home Typists (also Order Taker/Application Taker).
There are lots of home typist positions that are
perfectly legitimate, but these never ask you for a fee and
they are also rarely advertised online. Don't get suckered
by ads that promise home typing work that require a fee.
They are all variations on the email processing scam
- Craft/Electronic Assembly. There are perfectly
legitimate craft/assembly companies that do pay their
home-based workers. Unfortunately, they are very hard to
find. With most scams, you will be asked to pay anywhere
from $10 to $200 for a test "kit." You will then be sent
something to assemble that, no matter how brilliantly done,
will never meet their so-called quality standards.
This scam works to make the originating company a great deal
of money in two ways. The first way they make money is by
selling you the kit and materials. Then, they actually sell
your carefully assembled products at discount prices to
retailers. Believe me, they are selling your assembled
products, but they just aren't paying you for it.
- Lists of companies that hire home-based workers.
Many people get scammed into buying lists that promise
hundreds of “sure bet” companies that are just waiting to
hire you to work from home. The simple reality is that these
lists are often just compiled from the telephone book and
many of the companies on them, if the companies exist at
all, don't know they're on such a list. And, the real
kicker: Most of these companies don't even hire home-based
workers. There are legitimate lists online, but they are
totally free for you to review.
- Reading books for pay. A variation on the job’s
list is the “Make Money Reading Books” list. This list names
publishers who pay to have individuals review their
manuscripts. As with the lists in #5, you can find this
information for free on the Web yourself. And, while it is
true that some publishing companies pay people to review
manuscripts, they will advertise these positions carefully.
They are not typically happy about receiving unsolicited
resumes.
- $6 Chain Letter. If you’ve ever seen the $6
Chain Letter in your Inbox, you’ve experienced a pyramid
scheme up close and personal. For only $6, you can make
thousands or so promises the letter. A simple rule of thumb:
Avoid all chain letters, especially when money is being
requested. This is one letter you’ll want to avoid like the
plague because not only is it totally illegal and it doesn't
work!
A real company offering a position—whether
it be work at home or in an office—will ask to see your
resume, probably want references, maybe want to see samples
of your work, and might want to communicate by phone. If
they don't ask for any of these things, be careful! And, if
they ask for money, beware! A legitimate company will NEVER
ask you for money to work for them!
Remember these tips and you’ll never be a
scamaholic again.
=================================================
This article is excerpted from “You
Can Work in Your PJs”, a real world guide to telecommuting.
Sylvie Fortin works from home full time and wrote this book
to share her unique techniques with others. You can download
your copy of “You Can Work in Your PJs” by visiting
http://www.inyourpjs.com
=================================================
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To your work at home success...!
Sylvie Fortin
Founder and CEO
Workaholics4hire.com Inc.
support@workaholics4hire.com
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