Getting scammed?

From get-rich-quick booklets to envelope-stuffing kits, scammers have long dangled attractive work-at-home offers before the unwary to part them from their cash. Now, the Internet has given these con artists new, more powerful vehicles for their schemes. Although there are legitimate opportunities for working at home, you have to learn to distinguish between fact and fantasy.

"Our company has uncovered a 42-to-1 scam ratio among home-based work 'opportunities' on the Net," notes Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix, a company that researches and publishes "virtual work" opportunities. That means for each legitimate opportunity, there are 42 others that are "outright scams or downright suspicious." Just one year ago, that ratio was far lower: 30-to-1.

Scams mimic legitimate businesses

It can be difficult to distinguish between legitimate ads and scams on the Internet because sometimes the fraudsters seem to be offering jobs that a real business might actually let you do at home, including secretarial work. Some ads claim that "you can make $35,000 typing from home or promise you a listing of companies that will hire home-based typists," says Diana Ennen, who has written extensively about working at home. "Rarely is a company going to submit its name to something like this, and most often the company doesn't even know that they are on the list."

Here are some of the classic home business offers that scammers use to entice the unwary:

  • Stuffing envelopes
  • Typing and data entry
  • Check and funds processing
  • Craft assembly
  • Receiving and repackaging shipments
  • Medical billing
  • Chain emails

Fortunately, there are sources you can consult to check up on these offers. For example, Staffcentrix publishes its evaluations of work-at-home opportunities in the Rat Race Rebellion. They have individual subscribers as well as US government clients, including the State Department and military bases looking to find employment for spouses of personnel who must relocate. Eons has a community group called Scam or Legit? to help members check up on home business offers: http://community.eons.com/groups/group/scam-or-legit

Signs of a scam

Often, the best way to avoid scams is just to use your common sense. Keep in mind that the bigger the promise and the smaller the demand, the less likely an opportunity is real. "Any legitimate business is going to take time and effort -- and money," says Diane Audette, who runs a home-based business reselling candles. She was lured via email into using a fraudulent Internet ad scheme to promote her business and wound up losing $3,000.

Here are some other warning signs that a job offer isn't what it appears to be:

  • "Work at Home" is the most prominent promise in the ad headline. A legitimate business will focus on describing the position it wants to fill.
  • The position does not require experience, and you don't have to send a resume.
  • You have to pay money up front to learn about the particular position.
  • The pay is too good to be true, particularly for part-time work.
  • The ad appears in an email message for mass distribution (i.e., it is "spam").
  • There is no job description.
  • The ad shows a beautiful setting, expensive cars, and attractive people. This indicates that someone is trying to sell you something.
  • The ad requests your personal information, such as a bank account or credit card number.

If you do receive a spam email with a work-at-home offer, don't click on anything. Ignore all of the links, including any that will supposedly remove you from the mailing list. Clicking them will only confirm that your email address is active and invite more spam.

Related Links

Eons: Work-at-home scams
Eons group: Scam or legit?
Staffcentrix.com
Diana Ennen's site
National Association for Home-Based Business