Home Business Scam: Watch Out for These Latest Scams!

Work at home business scams are becoming more prevalent these days because of the increased popularity of home based jobs. It is sad to see people falling into the trap to such Cons and usually these Cons are pointed at working from home moms, the elderly and also disabled people. If you are looking for a work at home career, then you must know how to determine these scams and avoid becoming a victim.

Here are some examples of some work at home business scams:

Scam #1: Envelope Stuffing
This is the classic con which many of us has come across at least once in the past. You see an advertisement or a junk mail announcing that you can gain $1-$2 for every envelope you stuff. Sounds like you can earn money easily, right?? Think again. Most of the time, you need to pay a start-up fee of somewhere $30 or more to join the envelope stuffing program. When you receive the start-up package, you realize that the instruction tells you to spread the word about this envelope stuffing business, then you will get paid. The trick is that they want you to help in earning the start-up fees by sending out the same junk mail you received in the first place. The trick is to get your start-up fee (your money!) first before you realize how this home based business scam really works.

Scam #2 : Processing Medical Bills
This home business scam requires you to pay anywhere from $300 to $900 for the tools you need to start your own medical billing service at home. They will promise you some advanced billing software as well as a list of would be clients in your neighborhood. Don't you think that most medical institutions would process their own medical bills or outsource the processing to a legitimate company, instead of individuals with no experience or knowledge whatsoever? When the package arrives (if it ever does!), you will find that the software is not up-to-date or does not work at all and the list of customers is just plain wrong. Chances are you will never be able to get a refund..

Scam #3 : Craft Assembly
In this home based business scam, you are told you will be given an extremely huge amount of money for every toy, doll, jewelry or other craft item you assemble at home. In order to start, first you are required to pay a start up fee to receive a starter pack which includes instructions and parts. When you are done assembling the product, you are told by the company that they do not meet their specifications therefore you will not get paid for it. Actually you will never be able to reach their expectations because the scam gets money by selling the starter packs. At the end of the day, you are left with a bunch of unwanted products cluttering up your home.

Scam #4 : Data Entry
There are numerous advertisements and postings for data entry opportunities on the Internet and even on online employment sites. All you need to do is just pay $10 to purchase a training package and they would send you all the training materials. You should also see that the job scope is normally very blurry and no prior experience is required. The "job description" is usually that you will need to mail out advertisements and brochures similar to the one you received to other unsuspecting victims. Once they pay up the $10, then you will get half of the money and the person who recruited you will receive half as well.

Scam #5 : Email Processing
This scam is actually similar to the classic envelope stuffing scam stated above. Typically you will be required to pay an upfront fee of about let's say $49.95 to receive an instruction manual and an email distribution list. The instructions will inform you how to process the emails and you will supposedly get about $25 for each email processed! Seems like the ideal work at home opportunity, doesn't it?? Wrong! The instructions they send you are actually on how to spam other people's emails with the same advertisement which motivated you to pay $49.95 in the first place. Then when another unsuspecting person (like yourself) takes the bait and pays $49.95, the spam company will (maybe) pay you your $25.

Ask yourself, is that the kind of work at home job you want to invest your precious time doing? Is it ethical? Is it legal? You are actually associating yourself with a con if you join such work at home business scams, which disguise themselves as genuine opportunities. One thing working from home moms should know is that there is no shortcut to success. Yes, sometimes with luck you can get there speedier than others but most of the time, it takes lots of effort and then some.