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How To Identify Work From Home Scams

balleca | Sep 30, 2010 |

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There is a huge demand for work from home opportunities as it has to be one of the most convenient ways to make money. But where there is demand there will be those who rush in to offer jobs that are not legitimate. Learning how to identify work from home scams can be quite simple but some may require extra research.

The first thing to understand is whether you are looking for employment or to start your own business. The approach is different from one to the other. While searching for a job at home, you should never pay acompany to apply for work. A fee may accompany a legit job offer but it will be minimal. Typically, these fees are required to do a background check and that should be less than $50.

If you are considering a home-based business offer, remember there are no get rich quick businesses. Business is business, and even an at-home business will always require hard work, time, perseverance and lots of marketing. There is usually a start-up cost for any business. This being an expectation, it is crucial that research is done before releasing any money.

The BBB should be the first stop when investigating a company. Find out if there is a brick and mortar address. A PO Box address is not acceptable. A phone number is a must. Call the number and find out how responsive the company is. If no one picks up or calls back this is a bad sign. Ask for current business owners or employees as references. If either is happy with the company they will be glad to speak about their experience.

Beware of any business that does not have its own web address. If they are using a free website service, this is your first clue. If the email address is a free address, again a glaring clue. If a business has not taken the time or spent the money to build a company website, they are likely not a legitimate opportunity.

Even real career websites have many scam postings for working at home. The job postings will look legitimate but often there would be an email response requesting personal information, not an interview. An interview will always be required or it is very likely a scam. This is especially true of those stating they need someone to take their customers payments for them or those offering work from home stuffing envelopes.

Some of the postings are not jobs, but training offers. They will state that once training is completed, jobs will be waiting. Before paying for this training, find out what companies are waiting. Contact those companies and simply ask if they hire from that training program. Beware of any company offering training and materials but no actual work.

Work from home scams can be found on the Internet, in emails and in job classifieds. A quick online search can help a lot with finding out if any job or company is real or a scam. The easiest to spot scams are those stating that thousands can be made in a week with no experience needed (like envelope stuffing offers). Lastly, stay away from spam. Legitimate work from home companies are not sending spam for applicants.