Work at Home Scams: Please Dont Be an Idiot!

A number of work at home scams are obvious. After all why would someone pay you to stuff envelopes; however, many have become so sophisticated that they are hard to detect.

It's become difficult for people to differentiate between what is and isn't real. Work at home scams have gotten more legit, by this I mean con artists have dotted the I's and crossed all the t's, thus consumers who are looking for signs for whether or not a work at home opportunity is real have to do some serious looking.

They problem, however, begins with people not looking in the first place. Very few consumers research companies or work at home jobs to find out if they are in fact legit.

Scam artists usually play on people's emotions or pull on their heart strings. Single parents or disabled people are frequent victims of work at home scams as they are normally pulled in by ads that seem to paint a picture of a better life.

But what of those who did their research? How did they get taken in by a work at home scam? Here are examples of how some scam artist are using legit methods to get your money.

"Contact me for info"

Work at home scam artists now realize that people will look for contact information before they sign up. They've managed to by pass this by using phony contact information. Most people do not contact business owners to ask questions. Thus putting up fake addresses and phone numbers is a way to make consumers feel more at ease.

So how can you tell if you're doing business with a real company? Call the company. Ask to speak to a real person; not only that but ask to speak to the owner of the operation or one of their "satisfied" customers. If the company has only left an email address, email them. As a general rule, nearly all legit companies will respond to your email within 48hours, if you can't get in touch with a real person walk away. Or if they dodge your questions walk away.

2. "Send in your resume"

Freelancing jobs frequently do this. They know that serious employees are expecting the employer to ask for a resume and they're glad of it.

A common example of this is web design or content provider jobs. Ads are placed online asking people to send in their resume if they want to "write from home." The victim is asked to respond to the employment notice by submitting a resume to an email address.

The requested information often includes full name, address, sex, telephone-cell-fax, bank account number, copy of Driver's License or Passport, and occasionally a Social Security Number. The con artist almost always inserts malware in the form of spyware and Trojans into the email.

The malware reports back to the Hacker, who then has free access to the job seeker victim's computer, including usernames, passwords, and all personal emails. To delude the prospect of the scam they are told they are hired and are given assignments. Once the victim asks for pay they are told the work is substandard and will not receive payment or they never hear from their employer again.

This is a difficult one to avoid because all legit companies ask for resumes. However, companies do not usually ask for your bank account number, or Social Security Number. Beware of what information you are asked to provide. In order to avoid completing a job and not getting paid ask for half of the payment upfront and then ask for the rest once the job is done. This way you both have a stake in the project.

Work at home scams are getting more sophisticated and this makes them harder to detect however if you apply logic you can avoid many out there. If you have been a victim of a scam you can report it to several online agencies.