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Spotting
scams among home-based work ads
by Chris Durst & Michael Haaren
There
is a 54-to-1 scam ratio among "work from home" ads on the Internet, and
that is not counting the ones that arrive as spam in your inbox. In
other words, for
every 55 you find on the Internet, 54 will be either outright scams or
downright suspicious - one will be legitimate.
The following information is provided to help you sort through the ads
you find on the Internet, and avoid scams.
Tips
for Spotting Scams
- "Work at Home" appears in the ad
header:
"Work from home" is not a job title. If it appears in the ad header
there's a good chance it's a come on - scammers can rarely resist
including it in the header – it’s the bait of their
“hook” as they fish
for desperate people to reel in.
- Claims that no experience is
necessary and
no resume is requested: In the “real
world” all jobs require you
do something so it stands to reason that a legitimate ad will tell you
what it is you need to be able to do. In the world of scams, a
person’s
gullibility is far more important than their experience or skills.
- You’re required to pay
a fee for additional
information: Legitimate jobs do not charge you for an
inquiry
about the position.
- Unbelievable pay!: "Make
$5,000 a
week working part time!" Exaggerated claims of income are a sure sign
of
a scam!
- The ad arrives as spam in your
email:
As if by a miracle, an ad for home-based work just landed in your email
inbox. How could this man from Romania
have known you were
looking for home-based work? Miracles do happen, but not via SPAM. If
you receive unsolicited job offers in your email it’s
probably the
result of a scammer having “harvested” your email
address from another
location frequented by people who are seeking work. Move it to your
trash file without using the “remove me from this
list” link you’re
likely to find at the bottom of the page. These links are often used to
confirm that your email address is active and using them can result in
even more SPAM.
- No Job Description:
What exactly is
the ad for? Most scams will give little or no description of the type
of work you are supposed to be performing – not even an
allusion to
such. Real job listings will always tell you what they expect you to do
for them.
- Palm Trees, Mansions, Beaches
& Bikinis: If
the ad you’re looking at features palm
trees, a mansion, and a Ferrari, it’s probably a scam.
Successful
scammers often bag their prey by dangling enticing things in front of
them – much like kidnappers do. “If you get into my
car I’ll give you
this candy bar.”
The
"Classic" Scams
Still Reeling in Unsuspecting Job Seekers
Stuffing
Envelopes:
The bottom line is this – there are machines that stuff
envelopes and
no legitimate company is going to pay a human being to do something a
machine can do in a fraction of the time.
What usually happens with the stuffing scam is, a person reads the ad,
sends some $ to get started, and receives in return, a letter
instructing them to place the same ad they replied to so they can scam
others as they have been scammed.
Typing and Data
Entry:
While there is legitimate data entry work out there, you'll have to
wade through cyber-acres of scams to find it.
Scam ads typically claim you'll earn a certain amount for every
"application" you process.
As with the envelope stuffing scam, you pay a fee and are instructed to
place the same ad you responded to and collect checks from those you
scam. The "applications" you process come with a check and - if you
decide to join the ranks of scammers - you keep the check. Hence, a
payment for "processing" the application.
Another common "data entry" scam involves having the applicant pay a
fee for software they will "need" to complete data entry jobs.
Once you purchase the software, it becomes clear that you will be fully
responsible for finding the data entry jobs yourself - work will not
come from the company.
Craft Assembly:
"Send money for a start-up kit with all the materials you'll need, and
earn money for every item you complete to our satisfaction."
Sounds great for those who are crafty but, with very few exceptions,
these arrangements result in the individual receiving the kit, doing
the work, and having it rejected time after time. Nothing they do to
improve the "quality" of their work will make a difference because the
scammer does not want the finished product back, they want the money
for the kits... period.
One of the few we've found to be legit is the "Disciple's Cross"
- there is a
fee for a start-up kit, but they also have a sterling reputation and a
money back guarantee.
Postal
Forwarding:
Postal forwarding has become a huge problem - we've met several people
who have
not only lost their savings, but have also had brushes with the law
after falling for this type of scam. In some cases, the scam involves
the transport of stolen goods, in other cases, it has to do with
cashing checks and forwarding money in exchange for a commission.
As an example of the first type of scam, we met a men who was looking
for home-based work because he had a physical disability that made it
difficult to manage a "traditional" job. He saw an ad for a job that
required him to receive packages of electronics (MP3 players, video
recorders, DVD players, etc.), repackage them, and ship them to a
designated destination in Romania. In exchange, the "hiring company"
would reimburse him for shipping expenses and pay him a fee for his
services.
It sounded perfect to him and he figured that since there was no fee
required up front, he thought it was a safe bet.
Once on board, he received packages in a rush! He repacked them
according to the instructions he'd received and forwarded them to the
address provided with an invoice for his expenses.
He received a check drawn on a non-US bank and deposited it in his
account - proof that he was onto a good thing he thought.
Several weeks later, he learned from his bank that the checks were
drawn on a non-existent account and had no value whatsoever. Further,
when he reported the culprits to the authorities, he learned that he
had unwittingly been instrumental in aiding thieves in their illegal
transactions.
As it turned out, the "customer" had purchased the electronics with a
stolen credit card and "laundered" them through this man. To add insult
to injury, the instructions for shipping involved having him
unwittingly lie to the US Customs Service by entering false information
on their shipping forms.
Fortunately, this man had a good lawyer who was able to get him off the
hook, but by then he had lost a large chunk of his savings and most of
his dignity.
Check and Funds
Processing:
In this scam, the individual agrees to process funds for someone who
claims to live in a country where the government makes it nearly
impossible
for them to do so themselves. They agree to send you a check or checks,
you deposit them into your bank account, and send them a personal check
for 80% of the amount - keeping 20% as a commission.
The problem - once you've cashed the check and sent a personal check
back, you're notified that the checks were forged, stolen, or
counterfeit. Your bank will hold you personally responsible for any
money they have lost as a result of the scam. This means that
individual now owes the bank the amount that they have wired to Nigeria
(or Senegal, or any number of places from which these scams originate)
- usually thousands of dollars.
Some banks have been known to prosecute the US-based account holder for
fraud, others have had their computers confiscated by federal agencies.
Sites
& Sources
to Help You Stay Ahead of the Scammers
Rip-OffReport.com
Self-Description:
"Victim of a consumer Rip-off? Want justice? Rip-off Report™
is a
worldwide consumer reporting Website & Publication, by
consumers,
for consumers, to file & document complaints about companies or
individuals who ripoff consumers.
Unlike
the
Better Business Bureau, badbusinessbureau.com / Rip-off
Report™ does
not hide reports of "satisfied" complaints. ALL complaints remain
public in order to create a working history on the company or
individual in question; unedited."
Scam
Busters
Self-Description:
"Welcome to the #1 website dedicated to helping you protect yourself
from clever scams -- online and offline! You'll find lots of
great resources on how to avoid the most popular scams,
viruses
and urban legends making the rounds."
WebAssured.com
Self-Description:
"WebAssured is uniquely applying Internet technology to solve this
dilemma. Our Seal of Assurance allows ALL trustworthy web sites to
compete on a level playing field, regardless of whether they have a
widely recognized brand name. The Seal at the same time protects
on-line buyers, and enables trustworthy on-line sellers. We have
established the Universal Standard of Ethics by which the global
Internet community expects on-line businesses to operate, and we allow
the community to directly monitor and enforce adherence to those
standards through the application of what we call "pressure through
publicity"."
Scam.com
Click
on their "Work
From Home" category to see what others have to say about various
home-based work opportunities.
National Fraud Information
Center/Internet
Fraud Watch - Fraud.org
Self-Description: "Our mission is to
give consumers the information they need to avoid becoming victims of
telemarketing and Internet fraud and to help them get their complaints
to law enforcement agencies quickly and easily."
Federal Trade Commission
Self-Description: "The FTC deals with
issues that touch the economic lives of most Americans. In fact, the
agency has a long tradition of maintaining a competitive marketplace
for both consumers and businesses. When the FTC was created in 1914,
its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce as
part of the battle to “bust the trusts.” Over the
years, Congress
passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police
anticompetitive practices."
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