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BEWARE Of Work-from-Home Scams!
In today's era of ever-increasing job dissatisfaction and corporate layoff's, a growing number of people, fed up with the old 9-to-5 grind are leaving the work place to become their own bosses. In response to this growing demand, work-from-home scams are one of today's fastest growing scams. There are plenty of outright scams, but there are also plenty of other work-from-home business opportunities that while they may not necessarily qualify as scams, but are nevertheless a waste of money. A good quick way to run a check on a suspect company is by going to badbusinessbureau.com and also the BBB, and doing a search for the company, to see if any complaints from other customers have been filed against them. Keep in mind though, this is not 100% accurate, and you won't always any reports on some bad companies, and occasionally, there may be old complaints against otherwise good companies.
"Help Wanted" Ads
At some time or another you,
like millions of others have been targeted by Work-from-Home scam artists,
in the "Help Wanted" section of your local newspaper, direct
mail, telephone, or now, online. In today's highly competitive society,
wherever there is a great demand for a human need, the scam artists are
sure enough out in full force to fill that market niche, and as always
will far outnumber the legitimate opportunities thousands of times over.
This is an unfortunate fact of life, but it's easy to learn to recognize
the Red flags and avoid them. Yes there is a market niche for Work-at-home
scams, except the only problem is the only people who benefit from it
are the scamsters.
There are many "Red Flags" to look out for, Dead giveaways that
something is most likely a scam. Very often a typical classified ad in
your local newspaper may read something like:
"Help Wanted - Graphics design. Work from home. No experience necessary…"
When you call their phone number, you will soon find out that you are required to purchase their over-priced special software (usually in the $400.00 - to - $700.00 price range) in order to "work" for them. 3-D Graphics design, and Medical billing are the 2 most common examples. "MotionQuest" of Thousand Oaks, CA (formerly Third Dimension Technologies) is an excellent example. The instant you say "I don't want to spend any money," they'll hang up faster on you than you can blink your eye! You see, this is how they make their money. By selling YOU the consumer, their overpriced software, NOT by giving you "real" work.
TV Infomercials
These are the "Paid Programming"
TV shows that often air during many cable channels' slow times. They promote
everything from food dehydrators and weight loss formulas to 900 numbers.
Here, just like the seminars, they get you all fired up & excited
about making a lot of money, to where before you know it, you'll be on
the phone with credit card in hand!
Excellent Example: Don Lapre "New Strategies" Well-known
"infomercial king." After watching one of his 900 number TV
infomercials, I called their toll-free number and ordered one of his 900
number packages, price $700.00, which turned out to be a total waste of
money. I certainly wasn't the first nor the last consumer who got ripped
off. ABC 20/20 did a story on Don Lapre, and they bought their own 900
number to see if it actually works, which it didn't. They too placed their
ads in various magazines and newspapers at great expense, and they too
found they could not make one red cent. Don is a real pro at getting people
to pull out their credit cards and waste their money. He is particularly
effective with his use of the word "Incredible." Ie: "You
can make an INCREDIBLE amount of money!" If you tune into one of
his "Paid programs" my advice to you is to turn it off or change
the channel!
Seminars
Have you ever heard of "Seminar junkies?" These are the familiar faces you will usually see if you attend more than one local seminar. These are the Work-at-Home business Seminars, where you physically attend, usually held in rented convention room space at a major hotel or convention center. Peak Performance Institute, Wayne Philips, are but a few well-known examples. You will often receive an "invitation" in the mail with complimentary tickets for two. While most may not be a scam in the true sense of the word, their products, consistenting of overpriced books & tapes are generally a complete waste of money. Most people who are successful in these business ventures usually don't need their books & tapes anyway. Very often, this information is otherwise available for free from the US Government, your local public library, or online. The most common ideas promoted are how to make money with Government Auctions, or Real Estate. "Real Estate Bootcamps" are a well-known scam.
Prices on the books & tapes are usually in the $500.00 -to- $1000.00 price range. The seminar speaker in his flashy business suit and wireless microphone will get the audience all fired up and excited about making lots of money, then later start talking about the price of their books & tapes, coming down on the "starting" price, to convince them it's a special offer, then have half the people running to the sales tables at back of the seminar room, whipping out their credit cards. You must remember that these guys are professionals and understand psychology and human nature extremely well. Usually, the only people making any money are the guys selling the books & tapes. Some of these outfits are indeed scams and some have been investigated by the FTC.
Seminars can be a great source of learning business ideas, and many business people will attend and take notes, but If you plan on attending one, my advice to you is to leave ALL your credit cards home! Your pocketbook will thank you!
In my honest opinion, these seminar products are usually a bad investment and a waste of money.