Avoid Work-At-Home Scams
By Michele Blandino
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You've seen the advertisements everywhere: stapled to telephone poles, grocery-store bulletin boards, your e-mail inbox and even in the newspaper. "Work at home, part-time, and make $500 a week to start," they proclaim. "Unlimited earning potential," others say. Sound too good to be true, you ask? Chances are, it is.
Work-at-home scams have been around for a long time. In fact, not long ago I saw an episode of the 1950's television classic "Leave it to Beaver" in which Beaver and his brother Wally were duped into selling bottles of foul-smelling perfume so they could buy a coveted movie projector. Unbeknownst to the boys, their mother "arranged" for her friends to buy enough perfume for her sons to earn the projector. But alas, when the projector finally arrived, it did not come close to meeting Wally and the Beaver's expectations.
Fortunately, the technological abilities of the Internet have allowed us to move on to more pleasant (aromatic and otherwise) ways to make a living while working at home. Unfortunately, these very same technological advances have made it even easier for unscrupulous people to scam the would-be home worker.
How many types of scams are out there, you ask? To give yourself an idea, go to the search engine of your choice and type 'work at home' in the search box. My search engine returned over 5.7 million hits. Now, that's not to say that each listing returned should be regarded as suspect, but suffice it to say, extreme caution should be exercised.
Mornin Stevens, Vice President of Workaholaholics4hire.com, Inc., a company that helps promote telecommuting, suggests there are two types of people particularly vulnerable to falling prey to work-at-home scams: those who have had a significant life change, such as illness or injury, which has required them to leave the traditional workplace; and those who are already home, perhaps caring for young children, looking to make extra money. Clever scammers target their advertisement to these people with offers that are, according to Stevens, "cleverly written to sound legitimate, feasible and very appealing."
In her article Don't Blame the Scammers, Rosalind Mays further makes this point by noting that savvy scammers monitor Internet message boards and discussion lists to identify and target potential victims. By looking for key words or phrases such as "desperate," "I want to work at home," and "telecommute," scammers can easily identify people looking for work-at-home opportunities and flood their e-mail inboxes with "offers and telecommuting opportunities that require some type of fee or payment to get started."
Stevens notes the most common work-at-home scams are "those that advertise a position such as 'clerk/typist,' 'process email,' 'stuff envelopes.' These are deceptive, giving the impression that a specific position exists. The candidate finds that 'job' entails doing something quite different, such as placing ads or selling something."
Let's take a closer look at some of these and other common work-at-home scams.
- Clerk/Typist – Respond to one of these advertisements and expect to be asked to either pay an "agency fee" of anywhere between $25 and several hundred dollars, or purchase expensive "how-to" books or software (directly from the recruiter, of course}. In return, you will likely receive a list of companies who might be interested in your typing services. It's up to you to contact them to see if they will offer employment.
- E-Mail Processing and Envelope Stuffing – Most of these advertisements claim that "for a small fee" you can learn how to make money in your spare time by stuffing envelopes or sending e-mail. It is only after the fee is paid that you will learn that there are no envelopes to be stuffed and no e-mail to be sent, at least legitimately. Rather, you will be given instructions on how and where to place advertisements to recruit even more people who ultimately will not stuff envelopes or send e-mail.
- Assemble Crafts – Now, this sounds like fun, doesn't it? Imagine sitting down with your glue gun and a bunch of little pieces of fabric, felt or whatever and being paid to put them together according to the instructions provided. It doesn't get any better than this, does it? Never mind you had to pay for a kit, which includes instructions, and all the materials needed to assemble the final product; you'll be reimbursed once the products are assembled. Or will you? In the Craft Assembly scenario, home-workers are required to pay for all materials up front and are assured they will be reimbursed once the job is completed and the finished product is delivered to the company. In reality, the finished product will never meet the company's quality standards (probably because there aren't any) and they will refuse delivery of the product. As a result, you will assume the cost of materials and be stuck with the product.
- Medical Billing – While there is a legitimate need for people to electronically process medical claims, most of these people are hired by one of the few companies that dominate the market. Yet, there are countless companies who promise the home-worker that she can easily enter this field by completing their $3,000 training course. In the end, this one turns out pretty much like the home typist scenario. After completing your training, which usually consists of self-paced tutorials, you will receive a list of doctors who might be interested in your services.
- Work-at-home Job Lists – There are many people out there willing to sell you lists of what they describe to be "hard to find" work-at-home jobs. Purchase one of these lists, and you will likely find that this information is exactly the same as that which is available for free all over the Internet.
So, what's a would-be home worker to do to protect herself? Stevens' company operates under one basic guiding principal: "Never pay for a job. A legitimate employer will not ask you for money – for any reason." This, then, should be the first question you should ask when evaluating a potential work-at-home opportunity – do I need to pay for this job? If the answer is yes, chances are, it is not the opportunity you are looking for. If the answer is no, do the following to help make a more thorough evaluation:
- Ask for references and call as many of them as possible. Be sure to include clients (those who have purchased the product or service in the past) and other people who have worked for the company. In the case of fraudulent job offers, you will likely find that these references do not exist or the people listed are impossible to reach.
- Take a look at the company's contact information, particularly its e-mail address. If the e-mail address does not contain the domain name of the company's web site, but rather is an address from a commercial e-mail service (such as Yahoo or AOL), it may require further investigation. Likewise, if the address given for a company is a post office box rather than a street address, there may be some question as to its legitimacy.
- Put the company's name in your favorite search engine and see what turns up. If the company has had questionable business practices in the past, chances are it will turn up on a warning list or discussion board. Read what others have to say about the company; it may be the best unsolicited advice you will receive.
- There are a number of web sites that contain information and warnings on work-at home scams. Direct Fraud, The Better Business Bureau, and The Federal Trade Commission all have information of value to potential home-workers. Take a few minutes to check one or more of these sites before making any employment agreements.
- Don't rush into anything. Take some time to fully evaluate the opportunity. What may sound like a promising offer today could lose some of its luster in a few days.
It is also important to know the difference between a work-at-home job and telecommuting.
Stevens points out that many people fall into work-at-home scams because they fail to recognize the difference. Simply put, a work-at-home job usually means that you are an independent contractor and will be responsible for reporting your own wages and paying the appropriate taxes. Telecommuting, on the other hand is, as described by Stevens, "an alternate way of performing a job." In other words, you are an employee of ABC Company who happens to work at home all or part of the time. Yet, entering the word "telecommute" into a search engine will lead you directly to the very scams you want to avoid. This is because the scammers know that many people don't understand the distinction between "telecommute" and "work-at-home."
As a result, Stevens suggests anyone seeking home employment take some time to assess their skills and decide which, if any, can be done from home. Then, "look for a position that needs them [the skills]. Look for the job title and position first, then look to see if telecommuting is an option." Stevens points out that "people usually run into scams when searching the other way around; they search for 'telecommuting' or 'work from home' first, and then they look for the position."
This is not to say that all telecommuting arrangements are not immune from would-be scammers. When evaluating a potential telecommuting opportunity, Stevens suggests asking the same types of questions you would ask during an interview for an on-site job. Inquiries about benefits such as medical insurance, vacation time and retirement planning are all perfectly acceptable and should be asked. Additionally, Stevens strongly suggests requesting a copy of the company's telecommuting policy. The telecommuting policy should cover areas such as expectations for being in the office, off-site support and what, if any, equipment you will be required to purchase.
Given all this information, finding a suitable work-at-home position can take as long or even longer than finding an on-site job. However, in the end, regardless of whether you are interested in a telecommuting arrangement or work-at-home job, the time taken to fully investigate the opportunity may make the difference between finding a financially and professionally rewarding opportunity and an employment nightmare.
