How to Tell Legitimate Online Jobs From Scams
The Web has made the world a smaller place, and the number of opportunities to work from home via your computer has increased dramatically. You can't always take what you find on the Internet at face value, however, and when it requires an investment of your time, labor and personal information -- including sensitive financial details -- you have all the more reason to be wary. Investigate every online job opportunity thoroughly before pursuing it.
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Instructions
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Look for requests for confidential information. If an ad asks you to submit information about your bank account, driver's license or Social Security number, for example, do not trust it. In the United States, no company has the right to request this information until you are legally its employee.
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Look for a company name and contact details. If a work-from-home ad requests action on your part without providing its name and the means to verify its existence as a legitimate company, do not pursue it. The total absence of a street address and telephone number on its website and in Internet searches shows a lack of transparency and is a classic hallmark of a scam.
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Copy names and specific phrases from the ad, and conduct an Internet search through Google, Yahoo! or Bing, for example. This often turns up damning information, such as complaints from victims of a scam.
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Refuse to go any further if a company requests a fee. Legitimate employers pay you for your time; scammers try every trick in the book to get you to pay them.
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Be especially wary of promises of money that seem too good to be true. Scams typically exaggerate how much money you can earn, and the ads focus on guarantees of large income with little work in return. A legitimate work-at-home ad will give you realistic expectations for the work involved and the income to expect.
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Look out for "No experience necessary." Real jobs have real requirements.
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Keep an eye out for signs of a "pyramid" scheme. If you are promised earnings or bonuses for bringing friends and family into the scheme -- a type of "multi-level marketing" -- it's likely the entire scheme is a con.
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Always ask other people you trust for opinions on whether an online work opportunity is legitimate. If you know professionals or people in business, ask them.
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References
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