Three Ways To Spot A Work At Home Con.

Work at home jobs are more and more common these days. The phenomenon can be attributed to a number of factors, particularly the Internet and the opportunities it has brought with it. Home jobs are easier to find today and convenient to maintain. However, their popularity has also led to an alarming number of scams.

It can be difficult sometimes to distinguish legitimate work at home jobs from the scams. However, keeping these "rules of thumb" in mind will help you weed out the bad from the good. A job advertisement may be a scam if:

1) It sounds too good to be true. You know the saying: "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is." It applies to home jobs too. Work at home scams usually promise more money than one should reasonably expect to make. Even the most successful home business entrepreneurs don't make tens of thousands of dollars in their early years.

Any home based job that makes promises like "you can quit your day job" or "earn full time pay for part time hours" should be viewed with skepticism.

2) You are required to spend money to get the job. The only ones who make money on these kinds of work from home job offers are the ones who are taking your money.

The most common of this type of scam are "work at home directory/catalogue" offers. Usually you'll be lured in with a wordy advertisement that promises "hundreds of work from home job opportunities". These ads will read like television infomercials, with long pages for you to read.

Eventually (usually in the last paragraph) you'll find the truth: you must pay for a catalogue or online directory subscription. This catalogue/directory supposedly contains the names of companies that hire people for home jobs.

Anyone who pays for a subscription has no guarantee that they will actually find a job by doing so. In fact, subscribers have no way of knowing if any of the companies listed in the catalogue/directory are even legitimate.

The bottom line: never pay to get employment. It's most likely a scam.

3) You can't verify a physical location and/or human contact. Purveyors of these scams don't want you to be able to find them easily. If you find an offer that sounds appealing, do your homework before signing on the dotted line. Make sure that you can verify information such as a company address (a physical location, not a box number), telephone number and contact person.

A legitimate company will have some kind of a physical office location. Try to locate this office by doing an Internet search or checking a local phone book. Drive by yourself if it's in your area.

Get the name of a contact person and telephone him or her directly. Be wary if he/she refuses to give you a contact number but instead wants to call you. You should also be wary if you only reach voice mail every time you call. If you aren't absolutely certain that a company or contact person exists, it's likely a work at home scam.

If one or more of these things applies to a home based job that you are considering, it's not worth pursuing. It's more than likely a work from home scam. Avoid falling for these, no matter how appealing they may sound.

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