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Learn to Spot Work at Home Scams

The job market has certainly seen better days-most anywhere you live. With the economy as it is, companies have been forced to layoff and downsize left and right-thereby limiting your chances of getting that job. There are way fewer jobs and competition for them is fierce. This has led a lot of job seekers to consider types of jobs they might not have once considered, ones such as work from home opportunities. If you’re among these, best to read on to avoid those too-good-to-be-true work at home scams by learning how to identify them first.

1.  Membership or Processing Fee: One of the first warning signs that the company you are considering      applying to is not legitimite is that they require a processing or membership fee to apply or join. These      types of companies say that they need you to pay a small one-time fee for postage, training materials, or      to show that you’re serious about the position. Most of these jobs are in the business of making money off      you and nothing else.

2.  No Experience Necessary: Another telltale sign of a potential job scam is when an ad reads that they don’t                                                                   require experience. Consider this, companies that are in the                                                                   business of contracting people to work from home without knowing                                                                   them are already out on a limb. Would you expect them to hire you                                                                   without any experience as well? This is way too much of a gamble                                                                   for a credible business.

                                                                  3.  Contact Info: Also beware of businesses who have sketchy                                                                        contact info. A legitimite business will offer a physical address and                                                                        phone number along with an email. It should also be noted that                                                                        most professional businesses have emails through their                                                                        companies instead of using free hotmail or yahoo accounts.

                                                                  4.  Website: While some may argue that having a website is not                                                                        necessary to being legit, it should be considered that any                                                                        business who wants to increase their market and compete for                                                                        profits would most necessarily have their own website. This said,                                                                        why wouldn’t a legit business have a website? For no other                                                                        reason than that they are not on the up and up, and trying to                                                                        conceal their intentions.

5.  BBB and research: Before giving out any personal information such as contact info or arranging an      interview, you should always make sure you do enough research on the company and the primary contact      you have for the position. A quick google search or a search on any major search engine of the name of the      company or person will give you the most obvious results of whether or not they have complaints against      them. Typically, if a business has scammed a bunch of people, at least a handle of them will blog or write      an article or join a forum to tell their story and help others avoid being scammed too. Beyond this, you      should always consult the Better Business Bureau and like-minded watchdog companies to see what sort      of info you can get on the company in question. The BBB, for example, will let you know if complaints were      filed against them, what they were, and how many.

6.  Target Advertising: Lastly, another common job scam is to reach out to job seekers who are looking for      work at home positions, such as stay at home moms or retirees or students. Chances are, if the company is l     egit, they should be describing the job, not trying to sell the fact that it is work at home. Moreover, work at      home positions are typically earned instead of promised, and considered only after the question is posed      by the potential employee.