Work-at-Home Scams: Tips for Avoiding Them

There are legitimate at-home jobs available, but many people never find them because they get lost in a sea of work-at-home scams. Unfortunately, it's far easier to find the scam opportunities than it is to find real work-at-home jobs that pay well. This doesn't mean they're not out there, however. Instead, it means you'll usually have to put a good deal of effort into weeding out the junk from the legitimate jobs. Once you've learned how to do this, you'll be that much closer to finding a real at-home job.

Here are some things to look for when you're trying to avoid work-at-home scams:

1. Paying for a Job: The most important thing to remember when you're looking for a job is you should never have to pay for at-home employment. If a company asks you to send money or pay a fee to learn about or apply for a job, even if it's only 50 cents, toss that opportunity out right away. This is a way to make money, but not for you. The person behind this scheme is making money by tricking people who are in need of a job.
2. It's Too Good to Be True: The next scam to watch out for is the too-good-to-be-true job. You'll find ads that claim you can make something like $1,000 a week and only work five to 10 hours. These ads aren't completely false; you can earn this kind of money from home, but not working for these scam artists. If you're looking for this kind of money, you'll probably have to start your own at-home business and spend a significant amount of time and effort building it up to this level. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it really is.
3. The Elusive Job Description and Shady Employer: When you want to avoid work-at-home scams, you'll have to pay attention to how a website presents its information and whether contact information is provided. If you can read a whole website and not understand what it is you'd be doing, this is a bad sign. You'll also want to see a way of contacting the company. If the only way you can reach a company is through email, this can be a warning sign (though not always). Some legitimate companies do ask prospective employees to contact them via email or through an application form. If all you can find is an email address, however, and the job offer seems vague or too good to be true, think twice.
4. Bad Reviews: Before you go ahead and apply for an at-home job, do a little research. Check on message boards where current work-at-homers go to chat about their lives. Check with the Better Business Bureau and sites that expose scams. You can even do a Google search of the company name with the word "scam" following it. If you find bad reviews, read them through. If the reviewer says he got paid but didn't like the job, this may still be an option for you (After all, you may like it, even if he didn't.). However, if the reviewer says he never got paid, or only received some of what he was due, don't chalk this up to the mad rantings of a disgruntled employee. There's a good chance it's true, and if you find other reviews that state the same, you'll want to cross that gig off your list.

There's no reason to give up on your dream of working from home. I've been doing it for more than a decade, and you can too. Use this information to help you to avoid work-at-home scams, and then get started with your job search.