Making extra cash from the comfort of your own home sounds like a pretty great deal, but it can be hard to tell which companies are legitimate. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 2 million Americans fell victim to a work at home scheme last year. The are variations on these schemes, but they typically involve receiving packages, relabeling them and sending them out again. Even if you do receive money for postage and your time, these funds may be coming from stolen or counterfeit credit cards or checks.U.S. Postal Inspector Ken Jones offers us his best advice: only work for someone you know you can trust. You can easily do some background research on a company to find out if they are legitimate. Here are a few tips to avoid being roped into one of these scams:
- Find out all you can about the company: are they a legitimate business?
- Contact the Better Business Bureau to obtain a reliability report on the company.
- You can also check their securities filings if they are a publicly-traded company.
If you are involved in a reshipping scheme, you are not only running a risk of being scammed, but you are potentially receiving and distributing stolen goods.
Check out the U.S. Postal Inspection Services site for more information about work-at-home schemes, and check with the Better Business Bureau for more details about how you can find out get information on a specific business about you might have questions.
One Comment on "Outsmart Scammers: Work At Home Schemes"
michelle
all i seem to find are these survey scams …….i am going in circles only to run into the same “complete” the offers. which turn out to be signing up for cheap then getting billed up the kazoo later, not to mention the endless phone calls …..I just want to find something I can do in my spare time that is legitimate and I can make a few bucks …….I am not even looking to get rich…any help….
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