Avoid Work From Home Scams

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How To Avoid Common Work From Home Scams

There are thousands of legitimate work from home jobs out there, unfortunately, finding them can often time be difficult because of all the scammers.

It seems as soon as one scam is identified, scammers come up with a new way to be deceitful.

Learning how to spot and avoid scammers will not only assure you don’t lose money but will also make sure you don’t become a victim of identity theft.

 

Avoid Work From Home Scams

 

 

 

Job Boards

You would think a popular job board would free of scammers because job boards charge companies big money to post their jobs. Wrong! Scammers will pay to post fake jobs because if they make enough money from the scam, then it covered the cost of posting on a job board.

 

Most companies that post jobs on job boards will also have the openings on their website. If you find a job posted on a job board that you’re interested in, find the company’s career section on their website and make sure the job is posted there too. You can also reach out to the company directly and ask if the post on the job board is legitimate.

 

Paying to Get a Job

Legitimate companies NEVER charge a potential employee a fee!

 

However, there are a few call centers out there that require you to pay for your own background check, which is legitimate, and luckily there aren’t many of them. 

 

A couple of call centers, like Arise, require you to be a business entity to work with them, and they charge certain fees. You aren’t an employee of the company and these aren’t “jobs”, you’re a contracted partner, using their platform. Direct sales companies are similar because they will often require you to buy a start-up kit, or join their service before you can promote their products or services.

 

 

Phishing Posts on Social Media

A common one I’ve seen on Facebook is a picture that reads something like “FedEx now hiring work at home data entry, for $35 an hour, comment for info”. Here’s the deal…NO LEGITIMATE COMPANY HIRES THIS WAY!!!! NEVER!!!! EVER!!!! Don’t fall for it. They’ll give you a link to a site that has absolutely nothing to do with the company mentioned in the post. It’s a scam. And if you’re not sure, go to Google, find the company’s website and look in their careers section.

 

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, direct sales company promoters think it’s better to give their direct link in an instant message, instead of in their posts. So, they’ll always use these vague, scammy types of posts and when someone requests info, they message them the link. You should still ALWAYS research the company. If you find that it’s legit, then sign up through their link so that they get credit. The Direct Selling Association offers a way to search for every Direct Sales company. If you can’t find the company listed, it’s probably better to avoid it.

 

 

Receiving an Email or Receiving a Private Message Offering You a Job

Scammers like to use large company names because it makes the scam sound legitimate. If you receive an email or message from Allstate Insurance (or any other company), offering you a job, delete it immediately. It’s a scam. Again, NO LEGITIMATE COMPANY HIRES THIS WAY!!!! This can’t be said enough, no legitimate company will reach out to people offering a job through private messaging or email.

 

 

Check Websites and Web URLs

If (cringe), you should actually get caught up in a situation where someone sends you a link to a website, research the link. If the post says FedEx and the link has no mention of FedEx anywhere in it, it’s a scam. If the URL reads makequickmoneyfast.com and not anything close to the company name, it’s a scam. Also, any legitimate company, especially large companies, will have their company name and/or logo in the header and/or footer of their website. If the company name is not mentioned in the header or footer and the footer simply reads “Powered by Weebly”, it’s more than likely a scam.

 

Also, legitimate companies will ALWAYS have a contact section on their website, with their address, email, and phone number. They do this to make sure their customers can contact them. If the website has no contact information, or it’s vague, it’s a scam. 

 

Also, if the website is loaded with spelling and grammatical errors, it’s a scam. It may not sound like a big deal, but believe me, it is. Legitimate companies want to look professional and don’t have websites chock-full of spelling errors.

 

 

Promising Big Money, Fast

You’re not going to make $50 per hour doing simple data entry. You also won’t make $500 in 2 hours or $7600 in 3 days. These are ALWAYS scams. Don’t fall for them! You aren’t going to make big money doing little to no work.

 

Conclusion

If you’re not sure if a job or company is legitimate, do your research. Google the company. Find the company’s career or job section and make sure the job is posted there. You can also check the Better Business Bureau and Glassdoor.

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