Top ten scams to look out for on your search for work at home

Insert photo caption or credit here

Many of you have searched for work from home with no success and many are just starting their search with the fear of being scammed. It is very possible to be scammed as 95%+ opportunities out there online are scams. That is where research, advice and help come into place. Especially from those who have already been scammed and spent much time searching. On my search I personally lost $15,000 in a 3 year time frame. Now being successful from home I realized where I made many mistakes on my search. You must always do your research on an opportunity, make sure you understand the Difference between a Home Job and Home Based Business, and do your best to keep an open mind but also keep guarded on where you invest money. You must always remember a Home Job will not require you to pay to work for them (If they do ask for money then it is a scam). But with Home Based Businesses you usually will have to pay a start up cost and monthly overhead. I think many start their search (just like I did) thinking they can make money quickly over the internet and there has to be some magic opportunity or job out there. This is not the case... as there are many Legitimate Home Jobs, Home Based Businesses, and ways to earn income from home... You still will want to be very careful on your search and understand what scams to look out for. Here are the Top 10 Scams to look out for on your search for work at home...

Assembly Work at Home: Typical Ad -- "Assembly work at home! Easy money assembling craft items. No experience necessary." This scheme requires you to invest hundreds of dollars in instructions and materials and many hours of your time to produce items such as baby booties, toy clowns, and plastic signs for a company that has promised to buy them. Once you have purchased the supplies and have done the work, the company often decides not to pay you because your work does not meet certain "standards." You are then left with merchandise that is difficult or impossible to sell.

Envelope Stuffing: Typical Ad -- "$350 Weekly Guaranteed! Work two hours daily at home stuffing envelopes." When answering such ads, you may not receive the expected envelopes for stuffing, but instead get promotional material asking for cash just for details on money-,making plans. The details usually turn out to be instructions on how to go into the business of placing the same kind of ad the advertiser ran in the first place. Pursuing the envelope ad plan may require spending several hundred dollars more for advertising, postage, envelopes, and printing. This system feeds on continuous recruitment of people to offer the same plan. There are several variations on this type of scheme, all of which require the customer to spend money on advertising and materials. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, "In practically all businesses, envelope stuffing has become a highly mechanized operation using sophisticated mass mailing techniques and equipment which eliminates any profit potential for an individual doing this type of work-at-home. The Inspection Service knows of no work-at-home promotion that ever produces income as alleged."

Chain letter: Typical Ad -- "Make copies of this letter and send them to people whose names we will provide. All you have to do is send us ten dollars for our mailing list and labels. Look at the chart below and see how you will automatically receive thousands in cash return!!!" The only people who benefit from chain letters are the mysterious few at the top of the chain who constantly change names, addresses, and post office boxes. They may attempt to intimidate you by threatening bad luck, or try to impress you by describing themselves as successful professionals who know all about non-existent sections of alleged legal codes.

Home Typist (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.

Appointment setter: Similar to the scam above. You are cold calling and telemarketing to set up appointments for reps to make home visits. You get paid if and only if the appointment you set up "qualifies". Guess what??? They usually don't "qualify".

Lists of companies that hire home 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.

Online Business: Typical Ad -- "Turn your Home Computer into a Cash Machine! Get computer diskette FREE! Huge Selection of Jobs! No experience needed! Start earning money in days! Many companies want to expand, but don’t want to pay for office space. You save them money by working in the comfort of your home." This is typical of advertisements showing up uninvited in your e-mail—an old scheme advertised in a new way. You pay for a useless guide to work-at-home jobs—a mixture of computer-related work such as word processing or data entry and the same old envelope-stuffing and home crafts scams. The computer disk is as worthless as the guidebook. It may only list free government web sites and/or business opportunities which require more money.

Processing Medical Insurance Claims: Typical Ad -- "You can earn from $800 to $1000 weekly processing insurance claims on your home computer for health care professionals such as doctors, dentists chiropractors, and podiatrists. Over 80% of providers need your services. Learn how in one day!"

Generally, the promoter of this scheme attracts you by advertising on cable television and, perhaps, by inviting you to a business opportunity trade show at a hotel or convention center. You may be:

Urged to buy software programs and even computers at exorbitant prices; a program selling at a software store for $69 might cost you several thousands of dollars. Told that your work will be coordinated with insurance companies by a central computer. Required to pay for expensive training sessions available at a "current special rate" that will be higher in the future, and Pressured to make a decision immediately. Most likely, the expensive training sessions are superficial, and the market for your services is very small or nonexistent. The promoter may delay the processing of your job, citing a backlog or mistakes in your work. There may also be no central computer as advertised. You may be left with no way to deliver what you have promised to your clients or customers—if you found any—and with no way to earn any money on you own.

$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

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.

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.

For more Information: Scams to Look Out For, Legitimate Jobs from Home, Home Based Businesses

_______________________________________________________________________________

Phoenix Work from Home Examiner
You Tube, Twitter, Blogger, CafeMom, Facebook, LinkedIn, Squidoo, Digg

Who is the Phoenix Work from Home Examiner?

Other Work from Home Websites and Resources to Bookmark:
Work from Home Information, Resources, Home Job Leads, Home Business Leads ane More!
Inspiring Hearts ~ Changing Lives Blog (Inspiration and Encouragment for Everyone)
Inspiring Hearts ~ Changing Lives Group
I Want to Work at Home Group
Work at Home Directory

Other Articles you might like:
Are you coming from the Heart?
Consistency is key when working from home
Dani Johnson ~ From $2.03 in her pocket, living out of her car to her first million in two years
100 Ways to grow your Home Business/Opportunity for low cost or free
110 Legitimate Mystery Shopping Companies
4 FREE Ways to Work from Home
40 Legitimate Home Jobs you can apply for
5 Writing Home Jobs you can apply for
60 Customer Service Positions from Home
Answering Text Questions as an At Home Job
Best Inspiring Quotes to keep you Moving and Encouraged
Call Center Home Jobs
Dani Johnson ~ Success Coach
Exclusive Interview with Successful Home Business Owner, Susan Goodknight
Free Sizzle Line/Recorded call company to help grow your Home Business/Opportunity
Halloween Tips and Tricks to Marketing during this Season!
How Social Networking Sites can help Grow your Home Business/Opportunity
How to Work a Home Business while Working a Full Time Job
Is a Home Job or a Home Business better? Pros and Cons...
Is Direct Sales/Network Marketing Really Difficult?
Legitimate Data Entry Positions from Home ~ Beware most Data Entry is a SCAM!
List of many Different Ways to Market your Business for FREE
List of Social Networking Sites that help grow your Home Business/Opportunity
List of Solid, Well Known, Legitimate Home Based Businesses you can start
Step by Step Guide to your Work at Home Search
Tips to use Blogging to grow your Business, Website or Opportunity
Top 10 Work at Home Scams to Look out For
Top 3 Inspiring and Encouraging Videos to help your Work from Home Journey and Entire Life
Top 5 Ways to Work at Home
Top 8 Tips to Growing a Successful Home Based Business
What is Personal Growth and Why is it Important to your Home Business and Life?
What is the Difference between Home Job and Home Business?
Why should I Work from Home? Top 6 Reasons!
Ameriplan® ~ Legitimate service based Home Business that provides Daily Pay, Benefits, 401k