How To Spot A Work At Home Scam
If you're thinking about starting your own work from home enterprise, it's essential to be aware of the red flags and not get scammed. This post will provide you with insight into such scams and how to avoid them.
Written by Karen Hines, a recent graduate of the American Business program at Edward Waters College.
The big question for anyone considering starting their own business is how do I know if this is a scam? It's so easy to fall prey to these types of opportunities but fortunately there are some signs you can learn to spot that will tell if someone is up front or not.
Sign #1: They always read from the script.
If you start hearing a long list of "What you need to know" advise it may be an indication that they are not being honest and are just reading off a paper, as opposed to teaching you how to do the work. Then once they're done with the speech, they ask for your money before giving you instructions on how to get started on the work.
Sign #2: "No charge" just means there is no charge.
It's not uncommon for somebody offering a job like this to request a small fee upfront, which in most cases they never pay. In this case, the lack of charge can also be a red flag because they are luring you in to think it's free when in fact it's not.
It is important to recognize that many legitimate opportunities are free and you shouldn't jump at the first offer of a "free job". Remember: somethings that don't cost money can still cost you plenty.
These two blogs provided by work-at-home-family.com (1 ) (2) provide great information on how to spot some common scams and today I'd like to share with you three simple ways to protect yourself from scams like these.
I would be happy to assist anyone who is genuinely interested in finding legitimate work from home jobs. If you have questions on how to start your own business, please e-mail me at karenhines@yahoo.com or visit my website www.KarenHinesOnline.com .
The Work at Home Scammers are looking for people who are interested in working from home to get their money and you need to be aware of the signs. As mentioned above there are some red flags but chances are you won't find out about this until it's too late, so I've compiled a list of things for you to look out for on your own. I've included some ways to contact me if you have any questions regarding this topic.
This is a very common tactic and there's a lot of offers that use this method to try and get you to pay money. If a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Most businesses won't ask for money upfront, whether it be in cash or Paypal, in most cases they will want to see that you can do the work first before committing any amount of money.
If you don't know how to do the work yourself, you're probably not going to get paid. If the person is asking for your money before giving out instructions on how to start, it's a big red flag and something to avoid.
Also if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is and there's no way of knowing until you try it anyway.
This can be a very misleading tactic as well. If someone is asking you to sign up with some site that they provide, such as a membership site or pay per click program, there's a good chance they will ask you to pay up front before they even see your work.
Many people have had trouble getting work done because of the sites and programs that require you to pay up front. I would recommend you look at a few different sites and see if they actually do provide any services before committing to any money. If they don't, then it's not really worth your time.
There are many legitimate companies who will offer work from home jobs and some of them will ask for payment before giving you instructions, but most of them will never ask for more than a couple hundred dollars or so. If something sounds too good to be true then again it probably is so just do your research on the actual company first before agreeing to anything.
So there you have it, 3 quick ways to avoid scams like these. Most of us are unaware of these scams and as a result fall victim to them. Considering the billions of dollars that are being laundered through fraudulent online business opportunities, you may want to think twice about starting your own work from home business. Just be aware that it's not necessarily the business opportunity or company you're working for, but the person who contacted you first.
If anybody has any questions regarding this topic please e-mail me at karenhines@yahoo.com or visit my website www.KarenHinesOnline.com .
If you're interested in starting your own work from home business, please visit my website for more information on legitimate companies that have opportunities that won't scam you.
Sign #3: They Won't Tell You How Much Money You Can Make
When someone is selling a product, they are most likely promoting the product and telling people about it. When people are selling a job, they're telling you about the actual job and how much money you can make as opposed to just talking about the program. If someone who's trying to sell you a work at home program is spending more time talking about how great their product is, then it's best to keep looking.
It's important to remember that the topic of most of these jobs is a scam, and if they can't talk about the actual work then it's probably a scam. If they are doing most of the talking then chances are you may want to stay away. This can be a difficult topic because there are some legitimate companies who will ask you to sign up with them so they can start sending you business, but in my experience less than 1% of them actually do send any business at all.
If you're looking for legitimate work from home jobs, I would recommend visiting my website for information on companies that have opportunities that won't scam you.
Sign #4: They Won't Pay Out to You Even Though You've Done Work
Almost every legitimate work from home job that I have worked with has paid out to me complete and correct so far. I would recommend staying away from any company that's not willing to pay out as soon as they've received your work.
If somebody is offering you a payment plan and you still haven't seen one cent, it's a red flag and something to stay away from. There are probably plenty of other legitimate companies who will send you money without an upfront fee of any kind. I would recommend you visit my website, KarneHinesOnline.
Conclusion
Legitimate work at home jobs are out there and do exist, but they are becoming harder to find. Some people have been fooled into thinking that everyone else is making money on the Internet and they're stuck with dead-end jobs just making minimum wage.
How would you feel if you knew that legitimate work from home jobs existed and the only reason you didn't know about them was because someone else kept that knowledge a secret from you?
When somebody is trying to sell another product or service, they're telling you about their product or service. If someone isn't telling you about a job then it's most likely not real so just move on.