Common Work at Home Scams

Work at home scams have been with us since commerce but many con artists now use the ever growing reach of email and the web to get more and more victims. Haven't we all seen those spam emails and classified advertisements that try to sell us our dream lifestyles? Why for just a small investment and a little of our time, we can have it all. Most though not all are rubbish. There are some very genuine ways of working at home, the trick is knowing how to spot the scams.

You know that feeling you get - "this sounds too good to be true"? Well that gut instinct is usually absolutely correct! Often, home business scams share some common characteristics such as their promises of mega profits for very little effort and in very little time, claims like "it's so easy you'll be up and running in no time", "no experience required" and the like. Often the promo material has testimonials from fictitious individuals and that favourite ploy, "We can only fully let you in on this excellent home business opportunity after you register, oh by the way, the price goes up tomorrow".

Some really old hat scams are still being touted and they are still catching out innocent or desperate people looking for a break in life. Be extremely cautious of work at home plans such as:

Assembly Work at Home - A real classic this one. Spend some money on materials to assemble into gift items or toys with great profits on selling the now completed pieces back to the promoter, after all he's paying for your assembly work. Unfortunately the promoter says your work is not up to their standards and won't pay for the assembled toys. Now you're left with a bunch of stuff that nobody really wants and there is no way to get your money back.

Medical Claims Processing - You'll hear that many medical practices need help to process their claims work and for just a little cash right now (there it is again...) you can buy the software which does all that processing and allows you to offer your freelance processing service. Why you're now a 'certified' claims expert with some fancy software, all you need is to get some medical practice to use your services. That's when you find they are perfectly happy doing their own processing.

Envelope Stuffing - You'll most likely find yourself deluged with offers of more work at home schemes all of which need just a little cash to get started right now! You'll also get the detailed instructions on how to place ads about envelope stuffing and make money by performing the same scam on others!

Avoid these work at home scams like the plague and pay only when you know what you're getting. Look for money back guarantees like those offered by Clickbank. The genuine home business promoters will tell you exactly what you're paying for and certainly there are some excellent guides to home businesses available there. Try them, I've only ever asked for one refund and that was on some faulty software, the home business guides I've bought have been very informative and great value, even if a little bit hyped, guess I'll put that down to every marketer's habits!