How To Avoid Work From Home Scams
Avoiding work from home scams can be challenging, but there are some important signs that should raise red flags. When I first started blogging, it took me a while to decide on a niche’. The one thing I new, is that the niche’ I chose had to help people.
I chose the ‘how to make money online’ niche because in today’s world, people are always looking for ways to make money both online and offline. Their reasons can be for extra income, a full time income, or a part time income. Some people want to work from home full time. Other people just want to perform odd jobs for cash. Regardless of the reason, people do not intentionally desire being scammed or ripped off.
Once I decided on the how to make money online niche, I decided to take it a step further. It’s not just about how to make money online, but how to make money ethically and legitimately. There are so many Internet scams, fake websites, and schemes it can get overwhelming when looking for something legitimate. I see scams and schemes everyday while searching for the legitimate opportunities online. As a result, not only do I look for ethical and legitimate ways to make money online (and offline), I also point out scams I find a long the way.
>>>Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link, you will be taken to the merchant’s website. If you decide to purchase that product or join the website, I stand to make a commission on the sale/lead.
What I have learned since starting my blog and YouTube channel is that people fail to take the time to investigate or research a work from home or business opportunity before jumping in. Some of it is because they are naive or too trusting, impatient, lazy, or all of the above. Some don’t care about ethics. Some don’t care if they scam people. They just want to make money. So if you are here, I believe it is because you do care and you want to learn how to spot scams before joining a website to work from home or business opportunity. I thank you and commend you for that.
Just because a site is free to join, it does not mean it is not a scam website. People may not think there is no harm in trying a website if it is free to join. They are so wrong and the issue of money should not be the only thing to consider:
- Scam websites can put your device at risk for viruses, spyware, ransomware, and Trojans.
- Scam websites can cause you to become a victim of identity theft.
- Many scam websites sell the members’ personal information.
Signs of Fraudulent, Fake and Scam Websites
During my searches for legitimate work from home opportunities and business opportunities, I found some common attributes of the fake websites or scam websites. One popular online job category is the ‘get paid to’ jobs. Get paid to perform online tasks, get paid to post links, get paid to click, get paid to read news articles. If you google ‘get paid to’, you will see thousands of websites in the search results. I wrote an article about the get paid to read news articles scams sites and get paid to perform online tasks scam sites. Although some of the scam sites listed in those article have been shutdown, there are several sites still active and scamming people. For more information about some of the things you need to be aware of, see my Scam / Opps To Avoid category.
One task I want people to do, is to google any work from home opportunity or business opportunity. Enter the name of the site, job, or business and add the word ‘scam’ at the end. If it has been active for some time or people have determined it to be fraudulent or a scam, you will find information about it online. A word of caution though, just because someone is not successful with a particular job or opportunity does not mean it is a scam. Some jobs and businesses require skills and a lot of time and effort before someone is successful. Some people give up too soon and want to blame it on being a scam when it is not. It’s important to learn the difference.
A fraudulent website or scam website can appear to be legitimate at first glance, but there are some things you want to look for:
- Does the website provide an authentic contact email or phone number? If it does provide that information, test both – send an email to see if they respond or call the phone number. Same goes for an address. Google the address to make sure it is an actual address. Scammers know that most people will not verify this information. If no one responds to your email or it is returned as undeliverable or not found, or the phone number or address is not authentic then chances are high that it is a scam website.
- Does the website provide Terms & Conditions? I have found scam sites that do provide Terms & Conditions, so this alone will not indicate the website is legitimate.
- Does the site ask for any financial account information? For example, are they asking for your PayPal account number? (If you see this ‘The number of purse:’, it is referring to an account number.) or whatever paying option you are choosing. Most people do not know they even have a PayPal account number. That is the number PayPal uses to link your bank account to your PayPal account. You have no need to use that number because PayPal payments are send using a verified email linked to your PayPal account. Anyone who is requesting your PayPal account number is a scammer, plain and simple. Their sole intention is to gain access to your banking information so they can steal your money.
- Does website have disclaimers and policies such as earnings disclaimers, email policies, privacy policies?
- Does the website or opportunity provide specific instructions or a detailed job description?
- Does the website site provide an option to close or delete your account? If it does not provide that option, it doesn’t mean it’s a scam, but legitimate websites usually provide that option.
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Is the website making unrealistic income claims? If so, be very skeptical!
- Example: If the site is offering to pay you $10.00 for a simple task, it is more than likely a scam site. Legitimate sites will only pay a few cents per task, maybe up to $1.00-2.00 for more detailed tasks.
- If you are required to pay a fee, does the site explain what is the is for? Real online jobs should not require a fee but business opportunities usually do. Some companies that offer work from home jobs, require you to pay for your own background check. I would think twice before doing that. If they want to do a background check on you, they should pay for it.
- Research the company or business opportunity to see if they have received complaints. If so, what are those complaints? Do they involve non-payment for your services, excessive fees? If you are required to purchase a starter kit or products, were those items were received? Does the job or business opportunity make promises and fail to follow through?
- If it is a business opportunity, does company or rep provide authentic testimonials or references? Will you be able to see authentic financial documents?
- If you will be selling physical products, you will want to confirm those products are legitimate, authentic, legal and have quality. If possible test those products yourself to be sure they are legitimate and authentic.
- How long has the website been active? New scam sites are going online daily so if it is a new site, I would consider waiting to see how it performs. Do not rely on sites like scamadviser.com. It will not provide you with any reliable information unless people report a scam or provide information proving it is a legitimate website.
- If you are considering a MLM or Multi Level Marketing opportunity, you will need to understand the difference between and legitimate MLM and a Pyramid Scheme.
- Is the company offering to send you a check before you even start working with them? This is a common practice for the Logistics, re-shipping and re-packaging scams.
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Check to see if the website has the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. Any website that is collecting and storing personal information of its members, requires members to log in to the website, or accepts payments on the website should be secured. Most scam sites are not going to spend the extra money on a SSL certificate.
- http:// is not a secure website.
- https:// is a secure site and has a SSL certificate.
- For additional information, please visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0243-job-scams#Signs.
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I utilize Google whenever I want to research something. Always look for the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to researching any job opportunity or business opportunity. The scammers a smart, but you have to be smarter and follow your gut feeling. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Deceptive Business Practices
Some opportunities might not be considered scams, but the people promoting them may be unethical and deceptive. I found that to be the case with DS Domination or Drop Ship Domination and MCA or Motor Club of America. I found both to be deceptive when I researched them.
If someone is providing ‘proof of income’ images from a website, be skeptical. Earning reports on web pages can be edited to appear impressive even when the person is not making a dime. It is a tactic used to draw people in and make them believe the person promoting the opportunity and product or service is making money.
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Another deceptive practice is providing fake reviews or testimonials by people who have never been involved with the opportunity but claim it is legitimate and they have made a lot of money from it. Unless you can actually speak to people about an opportunity, I would be very skeptical of testimonials. Websites like fiverr.com offer gigs by people who will make a fake review or testimonial for 5 bucks.
I have made several videos of the scam sites I have found. You can view them on my YouTube channel, How To Make Money Online Ethically.
>>>Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link, you will be taken to the merchant’s website. If you decide to purchase that product or join the website, I stand to make a commission on the sale/lead.
Conclusion
I have provided a lot of information with the intent of educating you on how to identify a scam website or at the very least be skeptical of a possible fraudulent website. I want to add a ‘food for thought’ comment. Don’t let your friends or family pressure you into sharing their referral links or even getting you to join their business opportunity without investigating it first. I see a lot of social media posts where people ask their friends and family to do just that. It might be uncomfortable, but just know that if you do give into their requests, you could be setting yourself up for identity theft, having your personal information sold without your knowledge and just getting ripped off.
Additional Information:
Legitimate Home Based Business Ideas
Learn & Earn at Wealthy Affiliate
Side Hustles You Can Start Now
My Top 6 Ways to Make Money Online
How to do affiliate marketing with no money
Learn about 5 home businesses you can start for free
Learn about the Yoonla CPA affiliate program