If you have spend some time on the Internet searching for a home-based job, you will know it is not that easy to find something. You might have invested some money in schemes that promise the world and beyond or you might have just been reading about all the scams people report. It would be wonderful to work one or two hours a day and make a fortune, but that is, unfortunately, not how the world works.
How to Spot Home-Based Job Scams
Scammers are becoming scaringly clever. They do everything from creating websites to posting jobs on jobsites to try and scam the innocent. One of the latests scams is to offer you a job as an executive representative for a company. Your main job would be to accept and transfer money from their clients in your country to an account somewhere in the world. According to the scam site it is money from companies for products bought, but the truth is that it is stolen money which can get you into big trouble if that money goes through your account. They build believable websites with job opportunities listed on the site for which you can apply.
There are, however, a few things you need to look at, before you apply for such a job.
Make sure there is a contact number and if you are suspicious call the number and ask some specific questions.
Check on the Internet scam sites to see if any complains were lodged against this company. Research the company. If only one reference for the company shows up in a Google search, you should be weary. Most real companies have at least a few links and advertisements somewhere else on the Internet. Research the managers and CEO's. Don't be fooled by photos and testimonials. It is easy to forge.
If they only work through an internal email system on their website it might also be a sign. Reputable companies won't be scared to send mail through the normal email channels. Not too long ago a company by the name of Union Metals ran such a scam. They took the name of a reputable American metal company, Union Metal and by adding a "s" to the name they were able to con people into believing it is the same company. There is a site ScamFraudAlert where you can check if any scams have been reported for a specific company.
If you have to pay for a job you should think twice. You can pay for courses or information, but not to sign up for a alleged job which promises to make you rich.
Which Home-based Jobs are not Scams?
There are home-based jobs that are not scams, but none of the real jobs will make you an instant millionaire. Survey sites are real, but be wary of claims made that you can earn over £200 a day by only doing surveys. You will have to sign up with an enormous amount of survey companies and then there is still no guarantee that you will make money everyday.
The survey companies are free to join or you can buy a list with the names of the companies if that is your choice. Most surveys don't pay more than a pound for about twenty minutes of your time and it happens quite often that after the screening, which can take five or more minutes of your time, you don't qualify and therefore don't get paid anything.
There are many sites offering freelance jobs for writers, virtual assistants, designers and many other jobs that can be done remotely. You will need to bid on the job of your choice and then depending on your qualifications and expertise you might or might not be chosen for the job. You can sign up for free with most of these sites which will allow you to try it out without having to pay for anything. They will then take a percentage of your income once you have landed a job. It is usually around 10%. Elance and People per Hour are trusted sites where most of the jobs are remote working jobs. The money that you earn can be paid into your bank account and both also do Paypal payments.
With these sites you have the total freedom to bid only on jobs you are interested in and you can work as much or as little as you want to. It takes a while to learn how to create a bid that stands out and sometimes you might have to work for a bit cheaper to get some credibility and good ratings on the site.
Many big companies are making use of home-based call centres and the believe is that this trend will continue and increase in years to come. You will have to apply to one of the companies providing this service and go through some training focused on a specific company or companies.
The truth about home-based jobs
There is no quick way of getting rich with home-based jobs. You will have to work hard, realise competition is fierce, and you are responsible for your own success. You might need to get some additional training in the area you want to work in and regardless of whether you do surveys, writing, or web-design you will need to put effort and time into it. The people who claimed they are working two hours a day making money from Forex trading or any other web-based business had to work very hard before that happened; if it really happens.
Annette Hendley - For many years I have spend my days in a classroom, attempting to open the minds of young people to the vast amount of information ...
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