A work from home "job" should not require any fees or out of pocket costs. And just as with any other type of job, you should be getting paid for training. If you are interested in work from home jobs see my ebook on the work from home page

If you are more interested in a work from home "business" this may require some investment or start up costs. If you do decide to spend money to start a business make sure it is spent wisely. If you are starting a business venture with another company be sure to ask how you will be paid. If the company is more focused on you signing other people up (pyramid scheme) than the actual selling of their product it is probably a bad idea in my opinion. See my work from home page for information on other work from home businesses I recommend.

Work At Home Scams 

 bullet2.gifMany times there are ads in the paper listing "work from home typing" or "become a mystery shopper" or any other sort of work from home ad and then it will list a 1800 number for you to call. When you call you get a sales pitch to buy what is basically a book. It is usually a very expensive book costing $30 or $40 promising to teach you to be a typist from home or whatever the ad in the paper was for. From what I hear these books don't have any more information, in fact usually less, than you will find searching on the internet or at a library yourself. Check out this site for information on common ads for typing scams http://homebiztools.com/typists.htm 

 bullet2.gifChain letters that make any promise of a "monetary gain" are ILLEGAL. Many of these try to get you to send money to the top name on a list promising that eventually your name will be on the top of that list and the money will come rolling in. There are also email versions of this going around now.

bullet2.gifI have not yet come across a legitimate stuffing envelopes from home job. Most I have heard of send you a package and have you put an ad in your paper exactly like the one you replied to, asking people to send money to find out how they can get paid to stuff envelopes.

bullet2.gifBe leary of any GET RICH QUICK schemes. If every one of these worked, wouldn't we all be rich by now? Any ad that promises tons of money with "no experience required" and with very little effort basically sounding too good to be true, is probably exactly that-TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE .

bullet2.gifIf you receive an email you perceive to be fraudulent the FTC has free publications about recognizing fraudulent unsolicited commercial e-mail and other internet related subjects. Contact the FTC at 202-FTC-HELP or write:Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580

bullet2.gifThe AARP and FTC have some great information about common work from home scams

bullet2.gifBe sure to check the BBB before signing up with any company

Other great places to use to check out a company before signing up with them are

bullet2.gifScambusters

Fraud.org

RipOffReport (realize that anyone can post anything they want on here and I have seen some legitimate companies blasted for personal reason. It is a good source but realize it is based on people's opinions.)

 

If you think you have been the target of a fraudulent work from home scam try contacting FTC(at phone # or address given above) State Attorney Generals Office in the state where you reside and where the company is headquartered

  1. The National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060
  2. Your local Beter Business Bureau (BBB)
  3. Your local Postmaster (they investigate fraudulent mail practices)