The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on work from home scams and is stepping up its enforcement by filing lawsuits against several companies it has deemed illegal.
While the vast majority of work from home ventures are legitimate companies offering entrepreneurs ways to make money, several companies are now in the federal spotlight. While several companies are facing hefty fines for duping unsuspecting people just looking to make a little extra money, there are hundreds of companies still operating.
To give you a good idea of what to look for, here’s a list of types of scams recently targeted by the FTC:
Some recently-developed ripoffs are taking advantage of the high jobless rate by running deceptive ads offering jobs with the federal government that do not exist. Basically, the scam requires applicants to pay more than $100 for study materials so they can pass a non-existent test. The scam also offers “counseling” costing nearly $1,000, that would help applicants create resumes and prepare for exams.
More than 100,000 people were duped by a scam selling booklets giving people “inside information” that could help them get a government job. The particular mailings targeted the elderly and disabled promising effortless positions that paid high earnings available to those people who paid for the booklet.
—More than 100,000 people were duped by a scam selling booklets giving people “inside information” that could help them get a government job. The mailings targeted the elderly and disabled promising easy jobs that paid high incomes available to those people who paid for the booklet. —In another scam, people were told they could earn as much as $500 a week assembling jewelry. They had to pay for materials, then assemble the pins and submit them for payment. The company rejected nearly all the pins, so no one who signed up for this job ever got paid, but spent hundreds of dollars on materials. Similar assembly jobs have been the target of investigations in the past.
Various other scams offer a list of careers for a fee, including jobs in the entertainment business that require no expertise or specific abilities. You should by no means pay for job listings, as there are many free job listing services online that offer legitimate work. One company actually listed jobs that didn’t exist in exchange for a fee.
The FTC is suing several companies that offered money for stuffing envelopes, labeling postcards, and mystery shopping—all of which were proven to be scams.The fines for these crimes are pretty hefty, ranging from $75,000 to $414,900. While hundreds of thousands of people have fallen for such schemes, you can bet there will be more cropping up in the future.
Be wary of any “job opportunity” that doesn’t sound legitimate, do your homework and ask questions before sending anyone your hard-earned money.
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