Now that things are looking bleak on Wall Street and it is bleeding over onto Main Street, more Americans are looking to make a little extra money any possible way. Work at home scams are also on the rise during the American financial turmoil. Below is a list of some of the most famous scams and why they are not worth your hard earned money or precious time.
Stuffing Envelopes. People have to pay up front fees to get starter kits. There is a reason that large corporations no longer have a mailroom. The internet and high priced, technologically advanced sorting and stuffing machines now produce envelopes and flyers in mass production. A real person could not stuff enough envelopes fast enough to make it worth your time. Now, there is a new twist on this classic….e-mail processing, which basically can be translated into spamming.
Member Only Sites. There has been a scam in the past where people working from home were told that they would just have to type sentences into a form for an advertising promotion. Scam artists would sell access to databases for data entry positions but would not pay employees for their work.
Medical Transcriptionist. After overpaying for fancy software that many doctors may not even accept and maybe some schooling, a work at home businessperson will then find out that most medical clinics process their own bills, or outsource the processing to firms, not individuals. The same thing is true with respect to processing medical insurance claims. Doctor’s clinics do it themselves without the help of a work at home entrepreneur.
Assembling toys. Most victims never get paid for their work. Many never recover their start-up fees. The trick is turning in your toys or crafts to get paid. Once you finish assembling your first batch of toys, you’ll be told by the company that they “don’t meet our specifications”, and you will not get paid.
Money Mule. People are asked to cash counterfeit checks and then wire the money abroad in this scam. When the bank realizes the checks are fake, the money is gone and the at home worker is left answering to the law.
Re-shippers. Scam artists buy goods online with stolen credit cards in this scheme, have them shipped to “re-shippers” who repackage the goods, and then send them to a P.O. Box in another state or country. Like a football player who retaliates, guess who gets caught when the authorities try to trace activity on that stolen card?
We would all like to believe that it is very easy to earn extra money from home. It is not easy. If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it. If everyone was doing it, then it would not pay enough to make it worth your while. We all make too little and have been made nervous by the current rocky financial climate. Keep all of your money in your wallet and away from these scams.
Many home based businesses are legitimate. You should check potential opportunities at your local Better Business Bureau to ensure that they are legitimate. If you think that you have been a victim of these scams, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission.
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