Most Work-At-Home Job Offers Are Not What They Seem

Most Work-At-Home Job Offers
Are Not What They Seem

Do your due diligence!

Below you'll find some tips in how to avoid becoming a victim of work-at-home scams and examples of work-at-home scams:

from ScamBusters.org

Would you like to earn lots of money in the comfort of your own home ? Generate thousands in income in your spare time?

Ads offering work-at-home opportunities can be found everywhere from Internet employment websites to neighborhood telephone poles.

This might seem like the perfect solution for retirees who want to bring in some extra dollars. But, there?s a catch ? most of these work-at-home opportunities are scams cleverly designed to leave you with less money than when you began.

Among the most common work-at-home scams?

*Stuffing envelopes

Lure: Earn big bucks for folding papers and sticking them into envelopes, usually more than $1 per envelope.

Trap: You will be asked to pay for your supplies or training. You'll typically receive only worthless instructions suggesting that you con others into applying for envelope-stuffing jobs.

Reality: Bulk mailers use machines to stuff envelopes.

*Medical billing or insurance claims processing

Lure: You can make big money processing medical paperwork.

Trap: You will be asked to pay hundreds of dollars for the software and training required.

Reality: The majority of medical offices process their own bills or outsource to large companies. Very few hire individuals.

*Assembling crafts or sewing together clothing

Lure: Are you good with your hands? Then these companies claim to have a career for you. They will send you unassembled parts and instructions, and you assemble them and send them back.

Trap: The company will ask you to pay a deposit up front because it needs assurance that you will do the work and return the assembled goods. When you send in your completed products, most or all will be rejected as not meeting specifications, and the company will keep your deposit.

*Email processing

Lure: Earn big bucks by receiving email sent to the customer service websites of major companies, then forwarding these messages to the proper departments. For a fee, you can receive a list of companies anxious to hire you.

Trap: This list will be worthless, perhaps just companies pulled at random from the Yellow Pages.

Reality: Businesses usually do not hire individuals to work at home processing email.

*Payment processing for international companies

Lure: A company with clients around the globe needs a US representative to handle incoming checks. You will receive checks from overseas, deposit them in your account, take a small cut as your fee, then send your own check for the remainder to your foreign employer.

Trap: The checks you receive will bounce. By the time your bank informs you that there is a problem, the check you wrote will have cleared, and your employer have disappeared.

*Mystery shopping

Lure: Earn thousands of dollars by reporting on the quality of the service you receive in stores.

Trap: Anyone who says that you can earn high pay mystery shopping is a scammer. They might be trying to con you into paying for mystery shopping information that you could find online for free.

Reality: Legitimate mystery shopping assignments typically pay up to $10 an hour (in some cases, as high as $20 per hour), or perhaps you?ll receive a free restaurant meal or a token amount of some merchandise. For information on legitimate mystery shopping opportunities, see the Idea Lady website.

Variation: You are told that you are evaluating a financial company, such as a bank or money-forwarding service. You are then sent a large check and told to deposit this money into your own account, then wire some portion of the funds to the address provided. The check bounces, leaving you responsible for the money wired.

Some work-at-home scams can be applied to virtually any work-at- home occupation. Be suspicious if you are told:

We overpaid you with your first check. Please send the extra money back. Your new employer accidentally sent you more than you were owed and asks you to send back a check for the excess. Sometime after you send this check, your bank tells you that the original paycheck bounced. Your job was a ruse to get you to send the overpayment check.

You got the job! We just need your Social Security number so we can pay you. It is perfectly reasonable for an employer to ask for a prospective employee's Social Security number. Scammers take advantage of this by posting legitimate-sounding job offers on career websites, then stealing applicants identities.

Do not provide your Social Security number until you have thoroughly researched the employer and are confident that the company and job opportunity are real.

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