Okay – so let’s face it – we all need more money! How’s this sound?
- At Home Rebate Processor. 20 Rebates a Day = $109,500 a year! 100% Guarantee!
- Kelly & Rick tell me “Every morning, I get an email that says I made at least $125! I wish I had known about this years ago!”
- Make $108,389 in six months with a computer and Google!
Two Marylander’s fell for Angel Stevens Process at Home, paying $197 for the program/kit (that’s first warning sign) to process rebates for companies like Home Depot and Hewlett Packard (use of established name brands - warning sign #2). They ended up participating in an affiliate marketing program where they had to pay to post ads on the Internet (victims typically spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars) to sell products.
Let’s see, you spend almost $200 to learn how to do the job, you pay for advertising and in return, you get a slice of the sales price pie, called a “rebate processing fee.” Unfortunately, your
BBB hasn’t received a single report from anyone who’s actually collected a single rebate processing fee. And along with the two Marylanders referenced above, there are 373 more victims just like them. I hesitate to guess how many more are out there!
Believe me, it could have been worse…Unlike many others, our Maryland victims didn’t invest $4,000 - $12,000 to equip their home-based business and online store with shipping services, fax machines, and fancy computers.
But how do you spot a work-at- home scam when you see one?
- Look out for unsolicited emails, poorly written and grammatically incorrect.
- Resist offers from free email addresses such as hotmail or gmail – look for corporate/professional email extensions such as consumerwatch@greatermd.bbb.org (you want the portion after the @ sign to also be the company’s web address like www.greatermd.bbb.org).
- Watch for overstated claims of potential earnings/profits.
- Avoid offers that requirement advance payment to cover instructions, how-to kits, inventory, etc.
- Be alert to “network marketing” (like Amway) – these programs are more concerned that you recruit additional representatives rather than the sales of an actual product.
- Know who you’re working for – are you certain they are who you think they are? Where is their physical address? It’s easy to hide in cyberspace - sure they may say they’re in Chicago. You need to check on them yourself. You need to do research on the company’s name, address and phone number. This information should be included in the email signature or look out. But even if it is included, you need to Google it, check with your BBB and see what others are saying about them.
- Verify they have a privacy policy, refund/cancellation policy and fully disclose all terms and conditions. Guarantees must be fully substantiated. And don’t just make sure they post this information read it!
Bottom line – if it looks too good to be true . . .IT IS! So, if you want to find a legit work-at-home job, start out with simple logic. What can you do from home with a computer? Travel agent, customer service, telemarketing, and even surveys are legitimate jobs albeit they may not be the best for you. Visit web sites of some large corporate employers.
More and more companies list telecommuting work tasks in their career section and this may be one of your best and safest choices. Lastly, this is one web source BBB will stand behind,
www.staffcentrix.com.
And, if you asked me
“Angie, what was the most fun you had writing about this topic?” . . . Well, the best part was uncovering work at home ads that offered helpful advice to avoid scams, when they themselves were actually scams! Don’t be suckered! Internet thieves will tell you anything; they’ll even try to make you think they have your best interest at heart – all for a dollar, or more like several hundred! Talk soon – Angie :)
