Home employment
seekers are often targeted by unethical predators (scammers). Learn the warning
signs of a scam and how to protect yourself
Here's the headline from a neat little flyer in this year's mail... "You Can Make £1,734 Each Week Working Part Time From The Comfort Of Your Favourite Easy Chair!" I found my mind lazily drifting to a familiar scene... Ahhhhhh... the Bahamas. Tiny droplets of water mingle on the outside of my glass in the warm tropical breeze. They glisten and cascaded in luscious streams of beaded condensation droplets down the sides of the glass before falling onto the brilliant white sand below.
The rum in my drink was cleverly
concealed in the enticingly sweet mixture of coconut and kiwi. My mind was
dreamily transcendent in the warm tropical air.
Though the alcohol in my drink was evasively masked, the roll of money in my right pocket was becoming more uncomfortable with the passing of
each blissful second. I would have to find a way to spend this burden before
long. I considered scuba diving, or perhaps I should go ahead and buy that yacht
and THEN scuba dive...
Do you see why these headlines work? Your favourite fantasy is skilfully evoked
by the trickster behind the headline. The lure of easy money and playful days is
hard to resist...
... unless you learn to see the scam behind the words!
The scam artist always goes straight for your wallet!
A legitimate work at home opportunity does not require any money up front before
you will get more details regarding the opportunity.
It works like this... first the scammer will entice you with easy money, easy
work, and tell you to imagine "what will you do first with all that money? Pay
off bills, buy a new car, take a vacation?" Then, they ask for £29 "just to
prove you are serious", or £1000 for the "work-at-home kit" which includes
"everything you need to get started."
Real work at home jobs leave nothing to the imagination.
Everything is up front. You know exactly what you're getting, how you get it,
how to do it, use it, stretch it, stand on it, twirl it... well, you get the
idea.
You can also reach someone with your questions, either by e-mail or phone.
Now let's dig a little deeper. Let's say, for example, you are looking for a
typing job you can do at home. What can you expect from the employer?
They don't ask you for money.
They will ask for your qualifications. They will require proof you are
qualified. This is done by looking at your resume, through references, phone
interviews, by submitting examples of your work, and so on. Essentially, you
will give up your time in the beginning, not your money.
The employer will qualify applicants. This means they will weed out the
under-qualified by listing requirements for the jobs, such as typing speed,
keying speed, certificates, and so on.
Generally, you should expect that a home employer seeking telecommuters will ask
of you the same things he would ask any applicant that walks into his office.
Two Common Scams
These are two of the most common scams. The ones that fill your mailbox and tell
you to call it a "cashbox."
1. Envelope Stuffing
Here is a common envelope
stuffing scenario...
You read an ad or get a piece of junk mail claiming that "Aunt Edna" makes
£1,845.00 every week by doing fun and easy work fight from her favourite
armchair. They say you'll earn £1 or £2 or some other amount for every envelope
you stuff.
They'll ask for an up front fee of £29.95 or more just to make sure "you're
serious."
You pay the fee and send off for the package. After all, they guaranteed your
satisfaction with their envelope stuffing starter package.
You pay the fee only to find out you earn your £1 or £2 by advertising the
envelope stuffing program. You place an ad asking people to send you a dollar to
find out about the envelope stuffing program. That's how you earn £1,845.00
every week. One pound at a time.
Uh huh.
Or they might tell you to purchase a mailing list and send out a thousand or
more of their "special sales letters." The letter you send out is the very same
letter you received.
Now then, for a mailing of five thousand letters you'll need £1,650 worth of
stamps and anywhere from £200 to £500 for printing and materials (Oh, didn't
they mention that in the starter kit?). If you want a mailing house to fold and
stuff the letters, that'll be extra. But wait, did I mention that you'll need to
rent 5000 names? Oh, and don't forget...
Uh huh.
If a company says they will pay you £1 or £2 for every envelope you stuff, think
about this...
A mailing house or printer can do this same job for less than 10 p per piece.
Even big jobs don't add up to more than 50 or 60 pence per piece. Does it really
make sense to pay you £1 when the same job can be done for a tenth of that cost?
This is a big business. There are companies promoting these envelope stuffing
programs making many thousands of pounds every year from people who send in
those up front fees.
2. Assembly Work
This one appeals to many potential home workers. Crafting seems to have a
feeling of "doing good honest work." Your craft will be appreciated and admired
by someone out there??.
The scam goes like this...
The assembly company sends you an information packet that really gets your blood
pumping. All you have to do is send in your money (add £14.95 for express
delivery!). They'll send you step-by-step instructions and all the materials.
Now, you're not allowed to buy the materials yourself. To insure quality and
uniformity of the product, you must use the provided materials. OK, sounds
reasonable you say. You send in your money.
You tear open the box when it arrives and find...
... barely legible instructions and materials far inferior to what you could
have purchased on your own. But what the heck, you've gone this far, might as
well build it.
You build it, you send it in, you wait.
You wait.
You wait,---
You call,---
No answer,---
Leave a message,---
You wait.
You call,---
Leave a message.
You get a letter from the "company."
Your assembled craft was rejected
because of this, and that. Now there are lots of variations on this rejection
scam, but the bottom line is they got
away with your money and you have been left with a pile of junk.
Working independently from home...
...is one of the most rewarding lifestyles you can have. However you won't find
your opportunity in a letter where the pound signs are wielded like sweets on
Halloween night.
So before you get that "I just licked a thousand envelopes and forgot to buy
£170 worth of stamps" feeling, just do your
research
and use common sense
when evaluating a money making opportunity I did.
Now Here are some legit home business ideas I have Pre-trialled for more then six months and made money not lost one Pound/Dollar/Euro but before you sign up check them out first???
