When I was 16, I was looking for a job I could do at home in the evenings after school. In those stone ages we only had newspapers so reading the Job Ads was my source of information. I saw an ad that was titled “Learn How to Work At Home”, send a $1 for information. A dollar only? Okay I am in. A week later the reply arrived in the mail, in a single thin envelope.
Opening the envelope I pulled out a sheet of green paper and on it was printed the following instructions.
To make money at home:
1. Put an ad in the paper stating you know how to make money at home and say that you will tell them for the price of a $1
2. Print copies of this flyer
3. Send customers this flyer after they send you a dollar.
I can’t tell you how silly I felt, but it was a good lesson at an early age about how subtle yet costly scams for people wanting to find work at home.
Today discover if a work at home opportunity is a scam is much more costly unless you do a lot of research before hand. Christine Durst, author of “The Rat Race Rebellion,” says her research indicates the ratio of scams to legitimate opportunities is 42-to-1., this was certainly proven when one of their researchers ordered several work at home kits and could not make any of them work to earning any profit much less the amount described in the ad.
Every article about work at home scams gives a good formula to avoid losing your money to an unscrupulous company;
1. Contact the company and speak to a live person, get details of what the expectations are and what a normal worker earns, if there no live person to speak to then its probably not a good idea to invest.
2. Ask about money back or refund if you decide not to pursue the opportunity. What guarantees do they have or methods of refunding.
3. Check with reliable sources about the company, Better Business Bureau, verify thier payment record, search any information about the company on the internet.
4. If you decide to apply, please do not give out any personal banking numbers, passwords or PINs until you have reached the point of employment and feel comfortable that your information will be kept secure. An option is to use Paypal for payment so that you are somewhat protected.
5. Research and check your sources, just because you see an ad for a “Work At Home Opportunity” on a reputable website does not mean that the ad or company has been vetted for accuracy or reliability.
Good work at home opportunities are out there but know that you are going to need to invest some time in research and more research to make sure you find the right place for you.
