Throughout the years I have participated in and/or reviewed hundreds of work at home opportunities. While there are a few legitimate programs out there, the vast majority are at best a waste of your time and money and at worst a scam. Here are some sure fire signs that an opportunity is indeed too good to be true.

Money for nothing. Some make-money programs suggests you don't have to do anything except wait for your commissions to roll in. If there is a way to make money doing nothing, why are they recruiting people to do nothing? It is either because you are going to be asked for money before all is said and done or it's an outright scam. If such a method existed, it would catch like wildfire and you wouldn't have to find it by searching the internet.

If you found a work at home online money making internet business that required you to do nothing but receive thousands of dollars in commissions you would probably tell a few people, who would tell a few people and everyone would be all over it. Likewise, if I noticed a friend or family member quit their job and become seemingly independently wealthy, I would certainly be asking some questions and then doing whatever they did.

It's all about referrals. Many internet businesses are based on referrals without a real, tangible product or at least a product that anyone wants. You send your $39.95 and they will tell you how to get everyone else to send them $39.95 and each time they do, you'll get a commission. There may be a product involved often an e-book, program, etc. that has no real value aside from being bate to lure in more referrals.

These folks will assure you it is not a pyramid scheme, nowadays they like to call them network marketing or MLM, but the concept is still the same. Participants get a commission when someone below them in the food chain spends money. The problem with this concept is that there is always someone at the bottom of the pile who cannot earn a dime without bringing in people under them.

Required to buy. In some distributor based work at home businesses, each participant (often called a distributor) is required to buy a certain amount of the company's product every month to maintain a status level and earn certain commissions. Any program that requires you to buy their product in order to sell their product should raise a red flag. Often what's really happening is that the products are extremely overpriced compared to their relative cost and the excessive markup is used to pay commissions to and through referrals. It is a creative revision of the pyramid scheme.

Focus on the lifestyle. We often see work at home opportunities that don't even tell you what the work at home is. Instead, they promote the lifestyle you'll lead with your new found wealth. You'll have fancy cars, a big house, a boat, and all the time you every wanted. Business opportunities that want you to share your contact information, or worse your money, without first telling you the details of their program, are most likely a waste of your time. Legitimate opportunities are open about their business model and how you might fit into it and earn money. If you read through the sales page and still have no idea what they want you to do in order to earn thousands of dollars, don't bother sending for more info or your free report.

Learn more about this author, Walt Terego.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about How to outsmart online scammers?
We want to hear your view. Write now!