Work At Home Scams & Schemes To Avoid

When it comes to finding legitimate work at home opportunities, the industry is riddled with job offers and employment options that are cleverly disguised scams and schemes, designed to steal your time and money.

So, how can you avoid being a victim of these online scams, and focus instead on viable, reputable opportunities?

Here is an overview of the work at home industry's most common scams to avoid.


#1: Paid Job Websites

When it comes to using job databases and directories to find and secure home based employment, be careful not to fall victim to paying for a work at home job.

With these job membership sites, you are required to pay a membership fee that claims to give you access to the most up to date, lucrative opportunities and offers.

Instead, you are likely to find that the majority of these positions are outdated, already filled, and in many cases available freely on external websites, work at home forums and job banks.

Instead of paying for access to an employment membership site, consider exploring the opportunities on public directories and databases such as www.Monster.com or www.Jobvertise.com


#2: Content Sample Requests

This is a difficult one to always avoid, because when it comes to potential employers asking for written samples that showcase your writing style, you often need to offer a sample of your writing.

The way the scam operates is that you are asked to submit numerous samples of original content. These so called employers will then utilize this content on their own websites, giving themselves access to as much free content as they need.

They then indicate that they will let you know when they are in need of your services, only to never hear from them again.

An easy solution is to create an online portfolio that showcases a summary of the different styles of your work, and direct potential employers to this website. If they require original content, do a quick search, conduct your due diligence to determine whether other freelancers have experienced problems with this company, and make your decision accordingly.

For the most part, companies should not require original work in order to determine whether you are able to produce high quality material, so keep that in mind.


#3: Data Entry Job Offers

With data entry job opportunities, there are legitimate offers available online, however, there is also an abundance of opportunities that are anything but traditional data entry tasks.

For example, a common scam is to offer what is described as a data entry position where the employee is simply told that their duties will involve entering in customer names and email address where they'll receive $25 for every task completed.

When they join, they quickly discover that their job isn't so straightforward, in fact, they are required to refer and recruit new data entry members where they are paid on a commission basis.

Worse, with many of these opportunities you must market and promote the offer yourself, where you are an affiliate, not a traditional data entry job at all.


#4: Paid Survey Opportunities

While there are many reputable survey companies willing to pay you for completing polls and providing feedback on products and services you currently use or are interested in, there are many survey membership websites online that require you to pay a start up fee in order to be eligible to participate in surveys.

The problem with this, is that you are merely paying for the compilation of information freely available online, meaning that the only documentation you will receive as a member is a collection of survey companies that you can easily find online with a little research.

If you are interested in participating in legitimate survey opportunities, here are a few places to help you get started:

American Consumer Opinion
Website: http://www.acop.com

Blarry House Research
Website: http://www.Blarry.com

CashCrate
Website: http://www.CashCrate.com

Click IQ
Website: http://www.ClickIQ.com


#5: Envelope Stuffing

When it comes to envelope stuffing, these opportunities go back to the very beginning of the Internet. The advertisements claim that you can generate a full time income from the comfort of your own home simply filling envelopes with brochures and mailing them to potential customers.

The real opportunity is quite different, once you pay to become an envelope stuffing agent, however.

Instead of simply being paid to insert documents and mail them to clients, you are simply reselling the same opportunity you joined, recruiting envelope stuffers who pay you for the job information to be mailed to them.

The only documentation you are sending out is a one page advertisement similar to the one you yourself applied to. You are paid on a commission basis for participating in this elaborate ponzi scheme.

There are dozens of other scams online focused on the desperate job seeker, who is desperate to find a way to generate a full time income online.