by Paola Fanutti

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: January 20, 2012

We see the ads all the time. Work from home. Scam free. Perfect for stay-at-home moms. Make $1,000 a day. Simple form-filling. The question almost all online job seekers ask at some point in their job search is, "are data entry sites and jobs a scam?" Are there truly any legitimate data entry sites that a desperate at home job seeker can join with no investment or start up costs?

From my experience, in a nutshell, here are the two truthful answers to these questions:

First, data entry sites and jobs are not a scam, but are so often falsely misrepresented that they BECOME a scam in the eyes of the job seeker.

And second, there are NO legitimate data entry sites that you can join without an initial investment or start up costs. There are simply data entry job openings, which a job seeker can find on getafreeelancer, eufreelance, odesk and other freelance or even regular employment sites.

Are Data Entry Jobs a Scam?

The meaning of "data entry" is so poorly defined that it is manipulated, misunderstood and intentionally misrepresented by many data entry sites. Most job seekers take for granted that they know what data entry is. Strictly speaking, data entry is entering textual data or information onto a form, and this loose definition is used by many scam sites to lure online job seekers into filling out google ads, when the poor job seekers are really under the impression that they are subscribing to traditional data entry jobs. Traditional data entry is normally:

• Medical transcription

• Appointment setting

• Business coding

• Data recording and transcribing

These are certainly the types of jobs most online job seekers are looking for when they sign up with a data entry site. Many data entry sites have cashed in on online job seekers' desperation to find at home work and have compiled long directories and lists of real, legitimate, verifiable companies who require such workers.

Many online job seekers feel it is a scam to pay a membership fee to data entry sites only to find that they are only provided with a list of other data entry companies to apply to. There is no actual work, just a list of companies. It is important for online job seekers to understand that they are NOT working for the data entry company. They are simply paying for access to hard to find or unlisted data entry jobs, which could actually be useful and worth the money, for a skilled and talented work at home employee who simply needs leads.

Time is money, and job seekers

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