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Work At Home Scams

Sometimes it is not easy to determine if a job offer is fake or not but here are a few tried and tested techniques that will eliminate some of the scams you find online.

  • Beware of work at home jobs stating that you can earn $1,000 a week typing from home.  Even companies that you would work for outside the home are less likely to pay you such a high amount unless you are highly skilled and have more job duties or you work a lot of hours, possibly overtime to earn thousands per week.

  • Jobs that charge you a fee upfront just for information.  You should not have to pay any fees to register, sign up or just for information about a job.  Do you have to pay a fee just for information about a job that you would work outside the home?  No.  So, why should you do so online.  There are some cases in which you may have to pay fees to work from home for training materials, certification training, Internet expenses, a background check or things of this nature but as a general rule do not pay for information that may or may not be sent to you with your credit/debit card about a work at home job.

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  • A legitimate work at home job offer will most likely provide you with detailed information about the job, requirements and job duties.  If it is very vague or general, it could be a sign that it is a work at home scam.

  • Research the company thoroughly.  If you are not familiar with the company or knows anyone that has experience with them or has worked for them previously, research, research and do more research before you proceed with any job offer. The more you know about a company or position they are hiring for, the better you will be able to make an informed decision as to whether you want to apply to this company or that this job is right for you based on these facts.

  • Join a work at home community or forum that has members that has experience working from home and ask them to recommend some companies to you.  You will get to know some insider’s information that you may not find online about the pay, schedule, job responsibilities and so forth.  

  • If it sounds too good to be true, most likely it probably is not a legitimate work at home job offer.

  • Make sure you get a contact name, phone number, address, etc. so you can verify the information.  Try to call a number if you see one listed online to find out if there is a real person that you can speak to on the other end rather than an automated message or answering system.

  • If you get a job offer via email be very cautious about those especially if you did not apply to the company or position.  If you do decide to correspond with an individual about a potential work at home job, ask a lot of questions about the pay, hours, any skills required, how long they have been in business, how many work at home employees they have, when you will get your first paycheck and so forth.

  • If a company does not pay or refuses to pay you, it is a scam.  Stop working for them.

  • Don’t give out your bank account information if a company states that they need it to deposit money

  • for supplies or deposit a check into your account for a mystery shopping job before you complete it.

  • You can read more tips about how to avoid work at home scams on my community here.

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How to protect yourself if you have been scammed online

No one wants to be taken advantage of.  That is exactly what a lot of companies and individuals are doing.  It may even been easier for them to do so because they can hide behind fake profiles, bogus websites and surreal job offers and lure you in. They will target and prey on those who want to earn money online or those with inexperience when it comes to searching for legitimate work at home jobs.  The less you know the more they can deceive you.  That is why it is so important to be informed about these work at home scams.  But. what if you have already been scammed online?  What can you do?  Here are a few suggestions that may help you get your money back or expose the company.

  • Contact your state’s attorney general office and file a complaint.

  • File a report with the Federal Trade Commission or Internet Crime Complaint Center.

  • Check out the company from the Better Business Bureau to see what kind of rating the company has.

  • You can also report a work at home scam with Scam.com and sign up to be a registered user.

  • If you come across a website that has scammed you or is a scam, you can report it to Google.

  • You can also watch this video entitled, “How to Detect work at home scams” for more tips.

 

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