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Be part of one of America’s Fastest Growing Industries!
Be your own Boss!
Earn thousands of dollars a month from home!
Ads like this are everywhere – from the telephone pole on the corner to your newspaper, email and favorite websites. The jobs might be different, but the message is the same – start earning a great living today working from home.
When money’s tight, work-at-home opportunities can sound like just the thing to make ends meet. Some even promise a refund if you do not succeed. But the reality is many of these jobs are scams.
The Bureau of Consumer Protection receives numerous calls and complaints each year from consumers who are thinking of getting involved in work-at-home plans or who have already paid in and lost their money. Many do not want to hear any bad news because they believe that no matter how bad other plans are, the one they are interested in is the one that will work.
Most common scams
Online searches
The ad on the website excites your curiosity – earn $500 to $1000 a week, or even $7,000 a month, running internet searches on prominent search engines and filling out forms. Even better, you can be your own boss and do the work right from home. What have you got to lose, except a small shipping and handling fee?
Unfortunately, you have a lot to lose. The company is not actually connected with a well-known search engine. Scammers are lying to try and trick you into handing over your credit or debit card information. If you pay them even a tiny fee online, they may use your financial information to charge you recurring fees.
Multi-level marketing
Some multi-level marketing plans are legitimate. However, others are illegal pyramid schemes. In pyramid schemes, commissions are based on the number of distributors recruited. Most of the product sales are made to these distributors, not to the consumers in general.
The underlying goods and services can vary from vitamins to car leases; which serve only to make the schemes look legitimate. Most people end up with nothing to show for their money except for the expensive products or marketing materials they were pressured to buy.
Fund transfers / check cashing
The reasons why someone is needed to transfer funds or product vary, but someone is always needed as a middle person for this work.
A check may be provided which is to be cashed. You then wire transfer a portion of the check to another party. The remaining money is yours to keep. You later find out that the check is no good and eventually bounces, leaving you repaying the full amount of the check, as well as any fees for cashing a fraudulent check.
The money wired is gone and who collected the wire transfer is unknown because no identification is required when collecting wired money. The checks are a means to launder money for criminal activities. You may find yourself in the middle of illegal activity and possibly subject to criminal charges.
Product transfers
Product transfer jobs typically involve shipping packages that may require repackaging stolen goods and forwarding them, often outside the United States. You are asked to pay the shipping charges; with a promise that you will be reimbursed. You will end up receiving a bad check as payment, if you receive any reimbursement at all.
In addition to being out any shipping charges you paid, you may also find yourself in the middle of illegal activity and possibly subject to criminal charges.
Medical billing
The ads lure you with promises of a substantial income for full or part-time work processing medical claims electronically – no experience needed. When you call the toll-free number, a sales rep tells you doctors are eager for help. In exchange for your investment of hundreds or thousands of dollars, you will get everything you need to launch your own medical billing business including the software to process the claims, a list of potential clients and technical support.
But companies rarely provide experienced sales staff or contacts in the medical community. The lists they give you often are out-of-date and include doctors who have not asked for billing services. The software they send may not even work. Competition in the medical billing market is fierce, and not many people who purchase these “opportunities” are able to find clients, start a business or generate revenue – let alone get back their investment and earn any income.
Many doctors’ offices process their own medical claims. Doctors who contract out their billing function often use large, well-established firms, rather than someone working from home.
To avoid a medical-billing scam, ask for a sizable list of previous purchasers so you can pick and choose whom to contact for references. If the promoter gives only one or two names, consider that they may be “shills” hired to say good things.
Try to interview people in person where the business operates. Talk to organizations for medical claims processors or medical billing businesses. Talk to doctors in your community about the field. Finally, consult an attorney, accountant or other business advisor before you sign an agreement or make any payments up front.
Mystery shopping jobs
Offers may be tempting to people looking for part-time work with flexible hours. Mystery shopping jobs claim good pay, short hours, and a fun, interesting work environment. Most mystery shoppers only work 1-2 hours per job, and can accept or reject a job with just a day's notice. The work usually consists of visiting a store, making pre-determined purchases, and evaluating the customer service. There are variations, such as going to a restaurant or hotel, and evaluating the food, cleanliness, and overall attitude of the staff. In any case, the mystery shopper will fill out a report after their work is done, and turn it in to receive their pay.
Sounds like a fun, legitimate job, right? Well, unfortunately, if you want to participate, you are likely to find hundreds of websites claiming to help you get daily work, all for a $20 - $30 fee. But in most cases, these websites have one intent – raking in your hard-earned cash, while providing very little useful information or resources for helping you get work as a mystery shopper.
In reality, 99% of these websites offer you nothing more than the following:
- Outdated mystery shopping resources with non-working links, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.
- No customer service or help in finding jobs.
- No refunds if you are dissatisfied. Most of these fly-by-night websites will not even respond to your refund requests, and once their website gets shut down due to complaints, they start another one under a different name.
- Poorly designed sites with confusing navigation systems and information and non-working pages.
Consumers should be aware that of the hundreds of mystery shopping websites, only a few are legitimate sources for daily work.
Traveling sales crews
As summer approaches and classes end, many young people look for summer and full time jobs. A classified ad that reads, “travel the country, high pay, all transportation and all expenses paid", may sound good, but may not be what it seems.
The ads target young adults to sell magazines or cleaning products door to door. The ads do not list an employer name, but give a local phone number, and the interviews are held in a local motel. When applicants accept the job, they usually are required to leave within a day to join a sales crew in the field.
Complaints allege employees are subjected to poor and cramped living conditions, long hours of selling door to door with sales meetings and sales-pitch rehearsals late into the night. Employees claim that “all expenses paid" means they are given a small nightly sum for meals and personal expenses which can be deducted from their pay. Some employees do not get paid at all. They are told their earnings remain “on the books" and they are charged for hotel expenses and canceled orders. They may even be fined for misconduct. Some employees may find themselves in debt to the company and feel unable to leave.
If someone you know is tempted to join a traveling sales crew, make sure they get all the details in writing and check out the company with the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Better Business Bureau. It could save young people a summer of hardship.
Rebate processing
The ad in your email says you can earn money by helping to process rebates. The fee for training, certification or registration is minimal compared to what you will earn processing rebates from home, according to the promises in the ad. The ad says the #1 certified work-at-home consultants behind the program will show you how to succeed like they did.
What you get are poorly written and useless training materials. There are no rebates to process, and few people ever see a refund.
Assembly work at-home
This scheme requires you to invest hundreds of dollars in instructions and materials and many hours of your time. This scheme requires you to produce items such as baby booties, toy clowns, and plastic signs for a company that has promised to buy them. Once you have purchased the supplies and have done the work, the company often decides not to pay you because your work does not meet certain "standards." You are then left with merchandise that is difficult or impossible to sell.
Protect yourself
- Know who you are dealing with. Check companies thoroughly before getting involved. Call the Bureau of Consumer Protection to check on complaints filed with the state at (800) 422-7128. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau, in Wisconsin at (800) 273-1002, or the local Chamber of Commerce.
- Ask for information about the company, including its street address and the name of its owner or chief operating officer.
- Ask for a written explanation of income claims and benefits offered.
- Consider the promotion carefully.
- Do not believe that you can make big profits easily.
- Get earnings claims in writing and compare them with the experience of previous franchise and business opportunity owners.
- Get all the details before you pay.
- Study the business opportunities franchise disclosure document.
- Find out if there is really a market for your work.
- Get references for other people who are doing the work.
- Be wary of offers to send you an “advance" on your “pay."
- Take your time. Promoters of fraudulent business opportunities are likely to use high-pressure sales tactics to get you to buy in. If the business opportunity is legitimate, it will still be around when you are ready to decide.Use state job service offices for current government job listings.
- When it comes to business opportunities, there are no sure bets. Promises of a big income for working from home, especially when the “opportunity" involves an up-front fee or divulging your credit card information should make you very suspicious. It does not matter if the ad shows up in a trusted newspaper, website or if the people you talk to on the phone sound legitimate. The situation demands both research and skepticism.
Refunds
Many of the companies promoting jobs boast about “guaranteed refunds," if you are not successfully placed. However, the conditional guarantees offered by companies make it difficult to obtain refunds.
For example, one company requires consumers to send a written refund request via certified mail no sooner than 90 days and no later than 105 days after getting information, to obtain five rejection letters from the list of firms provided, and to return all materials in resalable condition. Even then, handling and processing costs, plus a 20 percent restocking fee, are deducted from the refund.
If you are victimized
If you become a victim of a work-at-home scheme, ask the company for a refund. If they refuse or give you an evasive response, tell them you plan to notify law enforcement officials.
Keep careful records of everything you do to recover your money. Document your phone calls, keep copies of all paperwork such as letters and receipts, and record all costs involved, including the time you spend. If the company refuses to refund your investment, let the company know you plan to notify the Bureau of Consumer Protection about your experience. If you send documents to the company, make sure you send copies, not originals. Send correspondence by certified mail and request a return receipt to document that the company received it.
Contact your local Postmaster if the work offer was sent by mail. The U.S. Postal Service investigates fraudulent mail practices.