You can avoid getting involved in a work from home scam. How? By being informed as to what they look like. I would like to mention three here that are very commonly classified as a work at home scam.
1. Assembly or Crafts
If you are a crafty person, this job can sound like your dream come true. Making things or assembling them and having the company buy them back from you? Sounds great! But not so quick – there are a few things you should know.
First, you will need to purchase the assembly kit upfront and possibly some equipment that is needed to make the crafts. Now, when it comes time to send the finished craft back to the company and get paid for them, you may very possibly be told “not good enough.” This is a common scenario in this work from home scam. The company gets the money for the kits (and maybe equipment) and then rejects the finished work, thereby, not having to pay anything to their customers.
2. Envelope Stuffing
Sounds pretty easy to make money stuffing envelopes, doesn’t it? Well, it would be if it were legitimate. Usually, what happens is that the company requires you to pay a fee upfront to get your kit. Then you get a letter saying that you need to pay to advertise to recruit others to stuff envelopes. So, the only way to earn money is to mislead others.
One red flag that signals a work from home scam is if the company requires you pay a fee to get the job
3. Data Entry
This is a bit harder to tell if it is real or a scam because there are legitimate telecommuting data entry jobs. So, you will want to proceed with caution.
If the opportunity asks for a small upfront fee to pay for training or software to get started, then you’ll need to be careful as it could be a scam. Generally, if you pay the fee, you’ll get a little booklet about starting your own data entry business or a list of work from home companies.
A common theme among work from home scams is that they want your money. If a job requires that you pay upfront to get it, then it is most likely a scam.
Now, let’s differentiate between a scam and a telecommuting website that requires a fee to access their job listings. In the latter case, the owner of the website is providing a service – that is what they are doing as their job. They are researching telecommuting jobs for you and offering legitimate ones. They should be paid for their work.
Another distinction should be made between a work from home job and a home business opportunity. In a home business opportunity, you are usually required to pay a fee to join a direct sales company and sell their products. The fee normally gives you a startup kit so that you can familiarize yourself with the products and have some samples to show. This is also a legitimate fee.
However, in this article, we are talking about doing a job from home – and the company requiring that you pay a fee to get started. This signals a work from scam.
As with anything, read reviews, contact the people behind the website and follow your instincts.