Signs of a Work-at-Home Scam

The following are classic signs of work-at-home scams. Please do take careful note of each one. More than one will appear on scam ads at any one time.

1. Outlandish claims of income (i.e. “Earn $1,000 a day working part-time!”). Scam ads claim that you can earn large amounts of money beginning in a short time, from minutes after paying the registration fee to a few days or two weeks.

2. The ad asks for a “registration” or “membership” fee before anything else. Legitimate employers don’t ask candidates to pay money to learn more about a job. If it is a legitimate job opening, how would a recruiter justify charging a fee? I've seen ads that say, "We have to charge a fee to make sure that you're serious". Imagine going for an interview and the employer says, "Have a seat. Now, before we get started, I'm going to need $39.95 from you. We have to make sure you're serious." Would you pay them? Of course not! So why would you pay someone who is claiming to be hiring just because it's on the internet?

3. Claims that “no skills or experience” is necessary. Managing remote employees is extremely challenging. Employers who hire and supervise telecommuters want highly skilled, experienced employees that they can trust. They have to be confident that they can perform their jobs with little or no supervision. This is why most telecommuters are required to work on-site for a certain period of time before they're allowed to work from home. In the “real” world, the vast majority of jobs (apart from internships or entry-level work) require some degree of experience, and proof of qualifications. Beware leads that say experience isn’t necessary, or that don’t ask you to provide your credentials.

4. Vague or non-existent job description. The vaguer a job listing is, the more likely it is to be a scam. There's nothing more aggravating to a recruiter than getting bombarded by resumes from unqualified candidates. This is why most legitimate job listings are very detailed. Real employers will always summarize in the ad what it is they expect you to do on the job. They want to make sure that only the ones that meet their criteria respond.

5. No contact information on the ad itself. If you cannot call someone to ask a question, or ask for a reference, then something is terribly wrong. A real employer wants to get the position filled, and if you are qualified, they want to convince you to work for them. You should be able to reach them (or someone in their company at least) directly.

6. Ads with extensive typographical errors or ALL CAPS ads are most likely scams. No one in his right mind would want to work for someone who cannot even spell correctly.

7. “Work-at-Home” is listed as a job title. In a legitimate job opening, the title of the job -- “Accountant,” “Web Designer,” “Medical Transcriptionist” -- is what you usually see first, and "work from home" is not a title. If it appears in the ad header there's a good chance it's a come-on. Scammers use this phrase extensively because they know that “work at home” is the phrase that so many people are eager to see.

8. No resume or proof of qualifications is requested (except for internships or entry level work).

9. The ad arrives as spam in your Bulk or Spam folder. You must wonder how did that person you’ve never met know you were looking for home-based work. More likely, it came from a scammer who has “harvested” your email address from a website, or purchased a list of email addresses from a business or from another scammer. Be careful how you handle the spam mail. Move it to your trash file without using the “remove me from this list” link that you may see at the bottom of the page. These links are often used to confirm that your email address is active, and clicking on them can result in even more spam.

10. Palm trees, multi-million dollar mansions, expensive sports cars, and shapely bikini clad girls on beaches appear in the ads. Legitimate employers rarely if ever use such props to enhance their ads.

11. Testimonials without solid proof of references.

12. Snapshots of “proof of earnings” appear on the ads.

13. You are pressured to act immediately.

14. Claims of access to “inside information” form part of the ad’s sales pitch.

15. Phrases such as “guaranteed markets” and “huge demand” appear in the ads.

16. If the ad sounds too good to be true, it most certainly is a scam. This is the number one sign of a scam.

A great majority of work-at-home job hunters rely on the website that carries the listing to screen out fraudulent listings. The truth is that most of them don't have the resources to screen every post. In fact, most sites carry a disclaimer stating that it is the job seeker's responsibility to screen potential employers. So, always bear in mind these classic signs of work-at-home scams.