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Work at Home Scams
Avoiding Employment and Work at Home Scams
Nowadays, there are so many scams out there;
people who take advantage of innocent people
since they know so many of us want to work from
home.
Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is! But, you need to know more than
that if you are to truly avoid getting ripped
off.
I think it's good advice to give when I say,
AVOID anything that talks about stuffing
envelopes, pyramid schemes, and people that say
you can make $2,512.16 cents working while
wearing your sleepers in the next 24 hours etc.
Yes, you've heard about these golden
opportunities before, I'm sure. Now there may be
some legitimate stuffing envelope opportunities
out there, but most are just a way to get your
money and give you a list of companies that
might pay you to stuff envelopes, but they don't
give you the actual opportunity!
Don't pay for lists of companies that provide
work at home. If somebody needs an employee,
it's up to them to advertise where people can
find the opportunity, and not where people have
to pay to see the opportunity.
If anybody tries to pressure you into joining a
multi-level marketing company, take the time to
think about it and make sure it is a reputable
business opportunity that you even want to
consider joining. Don't let yourself be
pressured into anything. A lot of these are
legitimate, but some are not.
Ask for references, testimonials etc. Check
there have been no complaints against the
company by checking with the Better Business
Bureau etc. Most larger businesses do belong to
this association.
Before applying for any business
opportunity just answer the following questions:
* Do the company provide a telephone
contact number on their advertising? Test it out.
* Do you fully understand what you are buying before you send your
money? If not, it's probably because you wouldn't buy if you knew.
* Can they provide you with names and contact details of satisfied
agents?
* Is the product good value, or are you just being enticed into the
opportunity to earn from signing up others?
* Are you happy that you are not going to be required to buy large
quantities of a product yourself every month just to meet targets? If
you aren't going to be getting repeat business will you be able to find
a large enough supply of buyers for your product or service?
* Would you be happy to buy the product/service even if there were no
business opportunity attached?
* Are you convinced you can make it work or just telling yourself that
it doesn't matter, because they have a money back guarantee?
* Has the business received a good review in one of the quality business
opportunity magazines - The Board, Money Master, Home Business World
etc?
* Is the business legal ? If not they are likely to be closed down, and
you'll lose any money you may have invested.
Avoid companies offering get-rich-quick schemes. In most cases they try
to sell you a manual containing nothing you don't already know.
Money back guarantees are rarely worth the paper they are written on as
there are usually so many get out clauses as to make them impossible to
claim under.
*****SCAM ALERTS****
Classic work-at-home scams include:
envelope stuffing
product assembly or craft work
medical billing
reshipping
Chain letters
-
New scam.
Reshipping fraud.
Work-at-home
shippers are promised substantial amounts of money. All they have to
do is receive, repackage, and then mail merchandise to a foreign
address. What the shipper doesn't know is that the merchandise was
paid for with stolen credit cards. In effect, the work-at-home
shipper becomes part of a fencing operation by receiving and mailing
stolen goods.
-
aka NHES, American Homeworkers Association, Global Information
Systems (GIS), JobCrop
Chris Sours uses the name Danielle Sours to post job listings for
Administrative/Clerical work.
Update: They're back. Looks like NHES is now going by the
names: CDMDigital, Beverly Carson and CBPservices. He's been posting
job listings at Monster.com.
Click Here
to see an example of the email he sends to prospective
suckers....er, employees.
Update: Looks like all the complaints that people filed
have paid off. According to the Illinois BBB, Mr. Sours has been
permanently banned from advertising his scams and was ordered to pay
fines. You can see that report
Here.
Credit:
http://www.2work-at-home.com
Work at home
businesses; sometimes too good to be true
Barbara McAllister of
Plymouth called Contact 16, after she
found a work at home classified ad,
stating she could make a lot of money,
stuffing envelopes; she soon found out,
the offer was too good to be true
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You've seen the ads on telephone poles, on the
Internet and in the paper: "Earn big money at
home, no experience needed".
Many people have bought into
the business and have found out the hard way
that the offer is too good to be true.
That's what a Plymouth woman
soon realized after calling Contact 16 about a
job to stuff envelopes.
Contact 16 gives you the real
scoop, so you don't get cheated out of money.
Too good to be true
Plymouth resident, Barbara McAllister has had a
tough time making ends meet.
She's unemployed and lives on
social security.
So, when Barbara saw a
newspaper ad touting "Make money by working at
home", she says, "It sounded real good."
The job was to stuff envelopes
with brochures. She would make $5 per envelope.
"For 400 envelopes you can
make $2000," said Barbara.
It sounds good so far, but
Barbara soon spotted a red flag. "It said you
had to send $30," she explained.
Thinking this could be a scam,
Barbara called Contact 16 to investigate.
"We thought we'd have it
checked out before we sent any money, since I
had heard about Contact 16," says Barbara.
Contact 16 called The Federal
Trade Commission. It's their job to crack down
on work at home scams. The FTC says it looked
far and wide to find a person who got rich by
operating one of these work at home
opportunities, and found no one.
Mike Davis of the FTC said,
"Envelope stuffing opportunities are almost
always scams."
The FTC has set up a teaser
web site to help educate the public. If you do a
search for a work at home business, a variety of
sites might pop up. However, if you try to
buy into the business, you'll will get warnings
about work at home scams.
What are some questions to ask
before investing?
-
What are the specific
tasks I'll be required to do?
-
Who will pay me and
when?
-
Do I have to pay in
advance?
Legitimate companies should
answer all of your questions about their
programs in writing and for free.
"As long as there are people
willing to take advantage of other people, these
scams will continue to flourish," says the
Davis.
Barbara was smart enough to
not send in the money.
Even she knows there's no such
thing as a free lunch. "I can't afford to lose
money like that," she said.
If you've been
scammed...
If
you've lost money to a work at home scam,
contact the company in writing and ask for your
money back.
If that doesn't work, contact
your state's attorney general's office.
ATTENTION
Identity Theft
Publication 280
Consumer Fraud By Phone or Mail
Publication 281
Consumer & Business Guide
to Preventing Mail Fraud
Publication 300-A
Because the Mail Matters
Publication 162
Sweepstakes Advertising
Publication 546
Mail Fraud Report
PS Form 8165
If you have been scammed you can contact
them:
YOUR LOCAL BETTER
BUSINESS BUREAU
DIRECT MARKETING
ASSOCIATION
FEDERAL TRADE
COMMISSION
NATIONAL FRAUD
INFORMATION CENTER
U.S. POSTAL
INSPECTION SERVICE
Also
The Canadian Council of Better Business
Bureaus .
Call 416-644-4936 (Eastern time zone).
The Canadian Competition Bureau .
Call toll free 1-800-348-5358.
In the U.S. contact:
The Better Business Bureau .
The Federal Trade Commission .
Call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
If you need advice about
an Internet or telemarketing solicitation, or you want to report a
possible scam, use the
Online Reporting Form
or call the NFIC hotline at
1-800-876-7060. |
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