The scam is quite simple and works [...]]]> This little scam has been around for a while. It does not feature in the “Top Ten” work at home scams but it might find its way there in the near future because there has been a sudden surge of activity recently from people imitating this particular online scam.

The scam is quite simple and works as follows.

A self styled work at home scam “investigator” sets up a website with an anti-scam type of name: http://DontLetThemScamU.com or ScamNoMore.inf or something along those lines. Some even manage to work the word “authority” or “agency” into the site name to add credibility by implying they are part of a government department.

The website home page will have large headlines warning that the Internet is full of work at home scam programs and promises to reveal the truth about them. The page tells us how the author has been scammed repeatedly by work at home scam programs and has lost boatloads of money online. It goes on to describe how the scammers’ prey turned into the hunter and is now able to unmask the frauds and unveil the legitimate work at home programs discovered during his crusade.

The details of the story vary a little and sometimes the “chief investigator” has a female sidekick helping with the undercover investigations. One current version of the investigator’s story is that this serial scam victim set out on a one man mission to investigate Internet work at home programs and unmask the scammers for the benefit of humanity. After spending five years contacting every home business program owner he could find on the Internet, he is going to share (at no charge) the benefit of his vast experience with us – like a kind of virtual Robin Hood. Let’s call our example investigator Robin from now on.

When you visit his website, Robin invites you to subscribe to his email series so that he can explain in detail what work at home scams are to be encountered on the Internet and how to avoid falling for them. Everyone wants to avoid scams, so it seems sensible to subscribe.

When the emails arrive, Robin explains at length how practically every money making online opportunity is a scam. He lumps together all sorts of different online businesses such as real estate investing, stock market investing, HYIP’s, affiliate marketing, paid online surveys and data entry programs, declaring them all to be scams. For good measure, he also throws in all books and courses about building an Internet business and declares the authors of all of them to be frauds. In most instances the accusations remain vague and Robin never offers any evidence to substantiate his allegations.

Fortunately, so Robin tells us, he has managed to find treasure in the midst of all the trash and can recommend just three programs as being honest. These three programs get his seal of approval as being legitimate home business opportunities and offering a real chance to make honest money from a home based business. To help you further, Robin tells you to sign up to his selected programs quickly because they are filling up fast and you might miss the chance to join and start earning the money you’ve always dreamed of.

The truth is that the real scammer is our virtual Robin Hood, our hero is actually a bad guy in disguise. Robin has not really spent five years selflessly researching Internet work at home programs and losing money to scammers for the benefit of his fellow man. He just painted all those other programs black to make his whitewashed offerings look legitimate by comparison.

All sorts of things about Robin’s claims raise questions such as: If he was getting scammed and losing money, what did he live on? Can it be true that out of all the thousands of work at home opportunities available, there are only three legitimate ones? Does this mean companies like Avon and Tupperware have turned into scams? Apart from the niggling questions, you should instinctively distrust anyone who attempts to make his choice of work at home program look better by making derogatory comments about all the other available programs. If a work at home program is legitimate, its members will promote it without needing to tarnish the reputation of its competitors.

No doubt you have seen the over abundance of work at home scams that have popped up over the past few years, especially since the internet has been growing as fast [...]]]> Work at home scams have been around for a long time. Here are 3 ways to avoid becoming the scammer’s next victim and getting hurt.

No doubt you have seen the over abundance of work at home scams that have popped up over the past few years, especially since the internet has been growing as fast as it has. Is there any way to spot the phonies and avoid becoming the scam artist’s next victim; and possibly losing your shirt in the process? You bet! There are some pretty obvious clues and a few that are not-so obvious ones too. Read on for 3 of the most common clues to look for.

Misspellings or Grammatical Errors

These two are a dead giveaway that you are looking at one of the many work at home scams that are floating around these days. Any company that is truly legitimate will have no spelling or grammatical errors in their correspondence. The best things to look for are misspelled words that you are very familiar with such as American; if this word looks like this: Amerikan… delete the e-mail as fast as you can. This is a very clear sign that this is a scam. Do not reply to these.

Requests That You Pay Any Type of Fees

You have probably been getting deluged with e-mails or printed advertisements that say you can earn money at home by providing information to those who have requested it or something like this. There is a very clear indication that this is one of the many work at home scams if you are being asked to send them money up front for any type of lists of people who are interested in the product or service! Another clear indication is that the company, individual or web site does not have the BBB – Better Business Bureau logo anywhere. This tells you that they are not who they say they are. More often than not, if you are being asked to pay a shipping and handling or a “processing” fee by one of these scammers all you are actually doing is lining their pockets at your expense and not getting anything that was promised. Sometimes if you do get the promised list; it was nothing that you could not have found on your own.

Processing Rebates

Believe it or not, this has recently become another avenue that has been taken over by work at home scams. While there are several very trustworthy and legitimate companies that need people that can go through the paperwork that customers fill out to get rebates on products; most of the people who do these jobs actually work in the company’s headquarters in the processing department. There are indeed legitimate positions out there for rebate processors who work from home; but these are few and far between. The key here is that you have to be extremely careful and read everything with a magnifying glass! Go over everything with a fine tooth comb! You will need to check with company that says that it is offering this position to a work at home person to be sure absolutely certain.