by Janet Farricelli CPDT-KA

Created on: May 29, 2009

''I made $1700 in a day". ''I quit my job and make money while I sleep'' ''Make $5900 a month guaranteed. These are some of the classical ads that you may see popping up on your screen any time you browse for legit work at home jobs. These ads aim to catch your interest and they really do: how can you pass an offer of making money while resting quietly with your cheek against a pillow?

Following, are some eye openers of potential scams all prospective work at home candidates should be aware of:

-Be Skeptic

The adage: '' If it sounds to be too good to be true it obviously is'' applies whole heartedly here. Not only you will very likely not make money over night but you may actually end up losing money while you sleep! It all starts this way: you see an ad promising abundant earnings, you click on it and then you are directed to a website full of pictures of people earning thousands a month. There are words and words of convincing evidence of how you will get rich quick if you follow their program. Then at the very end, there is a section asking you to pay for an e-book that will teach you all the secrets on how to make money online. What happened to working at home and earning lots of money? Evidently the only person making money here is the company selling books.

-Watch for fees

A legit company rarely asks for fees. After all, you work for the company and you should be the one making money and not the way around. An example? Some companies promise you to provide you with a list of survey companies that will earn you lots of money for a fee. More often than not, you can find these survey companies for free by simply performing a search on your browser.

-Look for Customer Support

Check if there is a way to contact the company if there are any issues. Try to call their number or send an e-mail and see if they respond. Many times, you may work for a company and then when pay day comes no payment is ever issued and the company cannot be contacted in any way. One example are pay per click companies. It is not unheard of people clicking ads for days and then when they finally reach payout, no payment is issued and your phone calls go unanswered and your e-mail returns as undeliverable.

-Investigate

The Better Business Bureau has several listings of work at home jobs. They will post pertinent information about the company's history, the amount of complaints they receive, how the complaints are solved etc. Another great place to go check out a business is a website known as Rip off Report, here people post their negative experiences with companies so as a prospective worker you will hopefully learn by other people's mistakes.

As seen, there is a lot you can do in order to protect yourself from being a victim of a scam. Of course, there are legit opportunities out there, but sometimes it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack and it may take considerable time. Just remember: stay away from promises of getting rich over night, most serious work at home jobs take time, commitment and effort.

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