Avoiding Work at Home Scams

Working at home is a great idea, in theory. Who wouldn’t want to sit at their own home computer, sipping a cup of coffee, wearing their pajamas, and making thousands of dollars a month? Who doesn’t want to work part-time for full-time pay? The problem is, far too often work-at-home wannabes end up getting burned by “legitimate” at-home employers.

Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between legitimate home business opportunities, and people who are simply out to take your money. However, there are a few simple steps you can take to ensure that you remain scam-free during your quest to find work from home. Remember, there are certain occupations in industries that are more likely to offer legitimate opportunities. With this in mind, let’s review the steps.

First of all, avoid anything that tells you you’ll likely be a millionaire overnight. We all know if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Don’t get stuck stuffing envelopes or doing assembly at home. These types of work-at-home businesses just don’t make sense, and therefore are likely illegitimate. Remember, a little common sense will take you a long way when you’re looking for work at home. Thoroughly investigate every avenue of possibilities, don’t just take their word for it. Be very careful when asked to pay money for something. While some at-home companies require modest startup fee and offer legitimate returns, the goal of working from home is to make money, not to spend money. Legitimate employers will pay you — not the other way around. If you are asked to pay something up front, be sure you have thoroughly researched the company first.

If you’ve stumbled upon an opportunity that you think might work for you, and you feel it could very well be the real deal, it’s time to start acting like a gumshoe. The three most trusted stops in investigating work at home opportunities are the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Fraud.org. These three organizations are dedicated to recording and maintaining information about various businesses. The FTC, in particular, will go after individual work from home corporations.

Before accepting a work at home opportunity, there are some question she should ask. First of all, ask about what you’ll actually be doing. As in, what tasks will you perform? According to the FTC, it’s important to ask the programs that sponsor to provide you with step-by-step instructions for completing the job. You should also inquire about your pay. Will you be paid based on commission or salary? Who will pay you? And last, but certainly not least, when we you get your first paycheck? Many people fail to inquire about payment up front, in the end there bombarded with excuses when payment doesn’t come. Finally, trust your gut instincts. If your gut tells you to go the other way — hit the ground running.