Used to be one only had to be wary of ‘questionable’ newspaper classifieds offering not-so-legitimate work at home opportunities like stuffing envelopes, making products from home, etc. But then along came the infomercial peddlers and the internet. With that, the FRAUD and SCAM opportunities SOARED.
I am not sure WHY we believe "this must be legal" just because it’s in print, on TV or on a website, but we do. And because we believe, we ‘invest’ and then sometimes find out we were wrong.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has a whole section on Facts for Businesses, but here’s just a snippet. Visit the FTC site for the full report.
Deceptive investment, business opportunity or employment ads capitalize on consumers’ financial needs, naivete, and optimism – and their widespread fantasies of hitting the jackpot. The level of risk usually is proportional to the size of the return. Any representation of high earnings with little or no risk, skills, or training is likely to be false and misleading. In short, in the world of investments, there’s no such thing as a sure thing.
The Buzz Words
Anybody Can Do it
Quick and Easy
Big, Fast Profits
No Experience Needed
Work in the Comfort of Your Home
Work in Your Spare Time
Make Big Money Working as Your Own Boss
No Risk
You Purchase at Wholesale, Then Resell at a Huge Profit
Absolutely Guaranteed
No Selling
Get in on the Ground Floor of this New Technology
Nothing Illegal
Learn the Secret the ‘Big Boys’ Don’t Want You to KnowTypes of Scams
Many business opportunities and investments – including some listed below – can be legitimate. But scam artists have been known to operate in these areas:
Work-at-home promotions
Display rack or vending machine businesses
Invention promotion
Art, coins, stamps, or other "collectibles"
Prize promotions
Services offering scholarships, grants, or student loans
Gold, silver, platinum, and "strategic metals"
Recovery room operations – firms that claim they will recover investments or money lost in earlier scams
"Government products" – auctions featuring cars or real estate at "bargain" prices and services that claim to have the "inside scoop" on government jobs, government contracts, or small business loans.
Not ALL work from home opportunities are scams, but if you avoid the ads and claims listed in the "Buzz Words", chances are you’ll save yourself lots of time and money.
~ Jennifer Fisher
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October 11th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Again, this is very true.
The sad thing is, when people become victims themselves, they want to “victimize” others in order to get revenge or get even or take advantage of the hype. After all, it is proven that it is quite difficult to arrest an online scammer.
October 15th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
So true, Jay. With all the masking of IPs and ease of creating domain names, no validation required … the ways to scam innocent, uniformed victims is incredible. I was one of the victims years ago.
Thanks for stopping by,
~ Jennifer
March 8th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Thanks for the great content and information on legitimate online businesses. I search the net looking for this type of content to give me ideas on future articles that I am going to write on this same general subject. Appreciate reading your article and information on this particular subject.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Hi Laura, I am glad you found the information useful. The more we get the word out, the more we can protect innocent people who just want to earn some extra income from getting scammed.
~Jennifer