Tips to Avoid Work-At-Home Scams

Knowing the Warning Signs and when to Take Action

Work-at-home business scams cheat countless victims out of millions of dollars every year. Victims can include pretty much everyone that has a desire to start their own home-based business: stay-at-home parents, the elderly or disabled, the unemployed and low-income households. Con artists employ a variety of underhanded tactics including deception, misrepresentation and outright fraud to convince another human being to part with their hard-earned money.
You need to learn how to know the difference between legitimate work-at-home jobs and the scams that only waste your time and money, the latter of which can ruin your life, reputation and might even get you into hot water legally.

The first thing to remember is that there is no real way to “get rich quick” through a home business, unless you’re the scammer who’s perpetuating the myth. Home-based business scams that offer $2000 in a day and the sort should be avoided at all costs.

Asking the interested party for an initial fee should be an automatic red flag. No real company would ever charge you a fee to hire you—after all, aren’t you supposed to be making your money from them? It isn’t unusual to invest money in a home-based endeavor, but when someone charges you for some “top-secret” information about getting a high-paying job, they’ll usually just send you instructions on how to perpetuate the scam, or information on how to start a business that you could have gleaned off the internet for free. If you ever decide to invest in something you suspect is one of these scams, consider using something other than cash. A credit card is more easily traceable, and you’ll have a simpler time of getting your money back.

No matter how much you feel the temptation, never call a 900 number to get more information about that job opportunity you heard about. The call can cost anywhere from a few to a few hundred dollars, a segment of which is paid to the scammer. You’ll never see the information, or your money back.