FBI Advises On Work At Home Scams
 Monday, April 20th, 2009  by Connie T.

You know the type: in fact, I can pull one from my inbox right now without searching hard. Let's see...wow! It is actually the first item in my email, entitled "Want to leave the thankless job in the dust and earn 6figures [SIC] instead?"

A story goes on to explain a woman who used to work her fingers to the bone but then turned "her computer into a six figure cash machine!" A formerly stressed out Mom, they say. The links, as is this one, are usually a website you've never heard of, followed by /dsmtnrzwsiozsidrfowmr...in other words, a bunch of gobbledy-gook letters that probably refer you to the person who's trying to make some sort of commission by blasting off e-mails.

Or there's a flyer tacked to a street post, claiming you can make thousands per week with no experience. Whether it be typing, processing rebates, stuffing envelopes, what-have-you...the FBI says "many are scams that fill the coffers of criminals."

In a post on fbi.gov over the weekend, the Fed gives you the most common work-at-home scams (yes, scams).

Advance fee. If you are investing in the employer, whether it's for inventory, start-up costs, or training, then they're not your employer, see. "If and when the materials do come," the FBI wrote, "They are totally worthless...and you're stuck with the bill."

Counterfeit check facilitated mystery shopper. These scum of the earth "employers" send phony checks for you to deposit into your bank account to buy products with. Once the bank notifies you of the fake check, "your money is long gone and you're on the hook for the counterfeit check."

Pyramid schemes. Do we even need to go into this one? The more people you recruit, the more you will supposedly earn, but the only ones who profit are the people at the top of it (not you) who are profiting from a scheme that actually produces nothing.

Unknowing involvement in criminal activity. Any variation of this sort of thing.

The FBI provides some great tips to check into the validity of the company in question: Check in with the Better Business Bureau; be immediately suspicious if money is required up front; do not provide personal information; do your own research online or at your local library; ask lots of questions. And here's a tip from us: if it were that easy to make thousands of dollars per week from home, everyone would be doing it, folks. Certainly I would be. And if you are ripped off by one of these scammers, if the amount you lost is less than $5,000, you're pretty much SOL even with law enforcement to get your money back.

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