Be
part of one of America’s Fastest Growing Industries.
Be the Boss!
Earn thousands of dollars a month from home!
Be the Boss!
Earn thousands of dollars a month from home!
Ads like this are everywhere — from
the telephone pole on the corner to your newspaper, email and favorite
websites. The jobs might be different, but the message is the same — start
earning a great living today working from home, even in your spare time.
When money’s tight, work-at-home
opportunities can sound like just the thing to make ends meet. Some even
promise a refund if you don’t succeed. But the reality is many of these jobs
are scams. The con artists peddling them may get you to pay for starter kits or
certifications that are useless, and may even charge your credit card without
permission.
Others just don’t deliver on their
promises. The ads don’t tell you that you may have to work a lot of hours
without pay, or they don’t disclose all the costs you might incur — say, for
placing newspaper ads, making photocopies, or buying the envelopes, paper,
stamps and other supplies you need to do the job. People tricked by these ads
have lost thousands of dollars, not to mention time and energy.
Here
are some examples of work-at-home schemes to avoid:
Envelope
Stuffing
For a “small” fee, the ad says,
you’ll learn how to earn lots of money stuffing envelopes at home. But once you pay, you
find out the promoter never had any work to offer. Instead, after you send in
your money, you get a letter telling you to get other people, even your friends
and relatives, to buy the same envelope-stuffing “opportunity” or some other
product. The only way you can earn any money is if people respond the same way
you did.
Assembly
or Craft Work
According to the ad, you can make
money assembling crafts or other products at home. You may have to invest
hundreds of dollars for equipment or supplies — for example, a sewing or
sign-making machine from the company, or materials to make items like aprons,
baby shoes or plastic signs — or spend lots of hours producing goods for a
company that has promised to buy them.
But after you’ve paid money and done
the work, the company doesn’t pay you — supposedly because your work isn’t “up
to standard.” Unfortunately, no work ever is, and you’re left with equipment
and supplies — but without any income to show for it.
Rebate
Processing
The ad in your email says you can
earn money by helping to process rebates. And the fee for training,
certification or registration is nothing compared to what you’ll earn
processing rebates from home, according to the promises in the ad. It says the
#1 certified work-at-home consultant behind the program will show you how to
succeed like she did.
What you get are poorly written and
useless training materials. There are no rebates to process, and few people
ever see a refund.
Online
Searches
The ad on the website piques your
curiosity — earn $500 to $1000 a week, or even $7,000 a month, running Internet
searches on prominent search engines and filling out forms. Even better, you
can be your own boss and do the work right from home. What have you got to
lose, except a small shipping and handling fee?
Unfortunately, you have a lot to
lose. The company isn’t really connected with a well-known search engine —
scammers are just lying to trick you into handing over your credit or debit
card information. If you pay them even a tiny fee online, they can use your
financial information to charge you recurring fees.
Medical
Billing
The ads lure you with promises of a
substantial income for full- or part-time work processing medical claims
electronically — no experience needed. When you call the toll-free number, a
sales rep tells you doctors are eager for help, and in exchange for your
investment of hundreds — or thousands — of dollars, you’ll get everything you
need to launch your own medical billing business,
including the software to process the claims, a list of potential clients and
technical support.
But companies rarely provide
experienced sales staff or contacts in the medical community. The lists they
give you often are out-of-date and include doctors who haven’t asked for
billing services. The software they send may not even work. Competition in the
medical billing market is fierce, and not many people who purchase these
“opportunities” are able to find clients, start a business or generate revenue
— let alone get back their investment and earn any income. Many doctors’
offices process their own medical claims, and doctors who contract out their
billing function often use large, well-established firms, rather than someone
working from home.
To avoid a medical-billing scam, ask
for a sizable list of previous purchasers so you can pick and choose whom to
contact for references. If the promoter gives only one or two names, consider
that they may be “shills” hired to say good things. Try to interview people in
person where the business operates. Talk to organizations for medical claims
processors or medical billing businesses and to doctors in your community about
the field. Finally, consult an attorney, accountant or other business advisor
before you sign an agreement or make any payments up front.
When it comes to business
opportunities, there are no sure bets. Promises of a big income for work from
home, especially when the “opportunity” involves an up-front fee or divulging
your credit card information, should make you very suspicious. It doesn’t
matter if the ad shows up in a trusted newspaper or website — or if the people
you talk to on the phone sound legitimate. The situation demands both research
and skepticism.
Ask
Questions
If you’re thinking about following
up on a work-at-home offer, do your homework. Here are some questions to ask:
- What tasks will I have to perform? (Ask the program sponsor to list every step of the job.)
- Will I be paid a salary or will I be paid on commission?
- What is the basis for your claims about my likely earnings? Do you survey everyone who purchased the program? What documents can you show me to prove your claims are true before I give you any money?
- Who will pay me?
- When will I get my first paycheck?
- What is the total cost of this work-at-home program, including supplies, equipment and membership fees? What will I get for my money?
The answers to these questions may
help you determine whether a work-at-home program is legitimate, and if so,
whether it’s a good fit for you.
You’ll also want to check out the
company with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General and
the Better Business Bureau, not only where the company is located, but also
where you live. These organizations can tell you whether they’ve gotten
complaints about a particular work-at-home program. But be wary: just because
there aren’t complaints doesn’t mean the company is legitimate. Unscrupulous
companies may settle complaints, change their names or move to avoid detection.
In addition, consider other people’s
experience by entering the company or promoter’s name with the word complaints into
a search engine. Read what others have to say. After all, you are making a
decision that involves spending your money.
Where
to Complain
If you have spent money and time on
a work-at-home program and now believe the program may not be legitimate,
contact the company and ask for a refund. Let company representatives know that
you plan to notify law enforcement officials about your experience. If you
can’t resolve the dispute with the company, file a complaint with these
organizations:
- The Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint or 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
- The Attorney General’s office in your state or the state where the company is located. Visit naag.org; the office will be able to tell you whether you’re protected by any state law that may regulate work-at-home programs.
- Your local consumer protection offices.
- Your local Better Business Bureau at bbb.org.
- Your local postmaster. The U.S. Postal Service investigates fraudulent mail practices. Visit postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
- The advertising manager of the publication that ran the ad. The manager may be interested to learn about the problems you’ve had with the company.
This article was previously
available as Work At Home Schemes.
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