How can you stay away from work from home scams? You hear so much about "home business scams" on the internet today. And rightly so, there are many dishonest situations out there.
What is a scam? According to http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/scams/what.html, a scam is a dishonest attempt to trap you into parting wth your money. Therefore, when you are dealing with a scam, you will end up paying money and getting nothing in return.
There are certain situations that should raise a red flag in your mind when you encounter them.
Things to be cautious of when trying to avoid work at home scams:
- Any type of “job” that requires you to pay before they give you the job (not to be confused with investing in the start-up of a business, or paying a membership fee to acquire a telecommuting jobs listing. These can definitely be legitimate).
- Any promise of making a certain amount of money in a specified period of time. No one can follow through on that kind of promise.
- No contact information – there should be a way to get in touch with them – phone number, address, or email address, preferably all three.
- An "unsatisfactory" rating with the Better Business Bureau. If there have been unresolved complaints against the company, the BBB will have record of that.
If you are going to hand over your money to anyone, first know what the possible potential is for making money and seeing success in the venture.
Having said that, I do want to point out there are many legitimate opportunities out there that people call work from home scams, mainly due to:lack of research on their part, specifically, not finding out exactly what they need to do to earn money. If this is a network marketing opportunity, study the compensation plan and make sure you understand it.
- lack of effort on their part. Some people start up a business, try it for a few months, and give up because they did not make a lot of money. Businesses will take time and money to get off the ground, and a lot of effort, hard work and perseverance.
- Not taking the time to find the right opportunity for you. Sometimes people jump in because it is working for someone else, without investigating thoroughly whether this is something that will allow them to use their strengths/gifts, and if it is something they can feel good about doing/selling. Think it through
.
You may hear someone say “I’ve been scammed”, yet, when you probe a little further into the situation, you find out that they got into a business, threw up a website, told their friends/family about it, and that’s about it. Then they wondered why the business wasn’t successful, and write it off as a scam.
In other words, I do not want you to confuse a scam with a legitimate business opportunity that you need to work hard at in order to make money.
If the company seems reputable, talk to people who are working at the business and see how it is going for them. Ask the following questions:
What exactly do they sell/promote? – know the nature of the business
- What are the start up costs? Ask about the initial cost to start up the business. In addition, are there any monthly or yearly fees? If you are given a website, what are the fees associated with it?
- What would the business entail for you – what exactly would your responsibilities be?
- How much time do they spend on the business in a week?
- Has it been profitable for them? How long did it take to become profitable?
- How long has the business been around?
I think with careful, thorough investigation into the situation first, you can avoid the work from home scams and find some really rewarding, worthwhile opportunities.
Avoid the work from home scams. Grab your list of legitimate home based businesses that are legitimate and have been researched and checked out with the Better Business Bureau.
Laurie Neumann, owner of Christian Home Business Connection
