Devoted to WAHMs -Work at Home Moms

If you’re looking to work from home, be forewarned: work from home scams abound. Seasoned pros can usually sniff out a scam immediately, but those just starting out can get taken if they don’t know what to look for. What follows are some of the more common work from home scams.

Email Processing: It sounds like you’ll be sorting through emails for businesses, doesn’t it? Not quite. Email processing basically means you’ll have advertisements (read: spam) sent to your email box. You must keep each email open for a designated amount of time. For each email you “read”, you’ll get paid anywhere from a fraction of a penny to a couple of cents. You can earn more money by referring others to the program.

Home Typists: Before you send money to receive information on becoming a home typist, you’ll want to read this. Many home typist positions are scams. The ads lead you to believe you’ll be purchasing training materials or contact lists so you can begin your home-based typist career. This isn’t the case at all. Most of these kits teach you how to put up the same types of ads to scam others out of money.

Craft Assembly: After being accepted into a craft assembly program, you’ll receive kits to put together toys, jewelry or other crafts. The catch? After you send in your allotment, you’ll receive a note saying most of your work is inferior and they won’t pay.  Either that or the company will sell you the starter kit, but after putting together the crafts, what will you do with them? The original company won’t help you there.

Medical Billing: After paying up to $1000 for training, you’ll find out that most medical offices handle their own billing. Very few, if any, outsource.

If you’re looking to work from home, remember these simple tips:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Always read the small print. Research each company thoroughly.
• Never put out money for a job. Businesses pay you, not the other way around.
• Always go with your gut. If you smell something fishy, bail.