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The Golden Rule For Business Start-up Offers: If it looks too good to be true, it is. As an old-timer who has seen businesses flourish and fail over eight decades, I long ago realized that the internet is only new in technology, not in human behavior.

People have been gypping vulnerable other people since Eve talked Adam into eating the apple. Through the centuries, professional crooks have manipulated finances, religion and politics to keep people obedient, as well as for taking their assets. Today, those sincere-sounding crooks on TV and the internet are plying the same trade.

Of course, there are honest business opportunities available, both online and off, but the prospective investor must keep a close watch on the facts and his/her wallet. Here are some simple rules to avoid being gypped:

1. Use your brain: What is it you really want to do? What skills do you have? Do you have the time, financial resources and brains to devote to an online business? Don't fall for any of the grandiose, get-rich-quick promises. The more fantastic they sound, the less honest the offer is. If you're looking for an eBay kind of buy-sell business from home, make sure you can prosper in such a enormously crowded, cut-throat competitive battleground.

2. Fools rush in: Don't grab an offer that comes like the traditional used car pitch. The one that says time is limited, and you must act now or someone else will ace you out of a lifetime opportunity. Usually, that kind of pitch should send you running away, but if you are interested, do lots of homework and checking with appropriate sources before you make any kind of commitment, and do it thoroughly with as much time as it takes. If the offer pressures you for a quick decision and/or instant cash, you can be sure it is a scam.

3. Special deal today only: Another reason to turn and run away is the breathless, "Do we have a special deal for you only, Fred! But we can't hold the price beyond today." Realtors and car dealers are the best crooks in this way, but the online crooks are getting just as good at it.

4. The scammers demand your Social Security number, credit card info or bank account number: Big-operation scam centers, mostly based in the Caribbean, Africa and Russia, are set up to make instant raids on your bank savings or investments once they get the right ID numbers. No matter how attractive the online offer sounds, never give out those numbers. Another nest of scammers operate out of Mexico. They use stolen credit card, driver's license and Social Security numbers to use and/or make duplicates to sell to illegal immigrants as they apply for US jobs and benefits.

5. Do your homework: Back in school, the more you studied, the higher grade you earned. It is the same in doing business on the internet. Before going into any business arrangement, check on the history and current activities of the business. Get information from such agencies as the Better Business Bureau and credit reporting services. If you work with an accountant and/or attorney, seek their advice.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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