Home Business Scams - Tips On Avoiding Them

Maybe the reason you're interested in setting up a home business is because you've seen an ad that perked your interest or you were approached by a friend or colleague about a great home business money-making opportunity and those entrepreneurial juices started to flow. Your imagination starts to flow and dreams of quitting your job fill your every thought.

Hello, hey, ok... time to stop dreaming. I hate to burst your bubble or stop your fantasy ride but before you give y...

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Maybe the reason you're interested in setting up a home business is because you've seen an ad that perked your interest or you were approached by a friend or colleague about a great home business money-making opportunity and those entrepreneurial juices started to flow. Your imagination starts to flow and dreams of quitting your job fill your every thought.

Hello, hey, ok... time to stop dreaming. I hate to burst your bubble or stop your fantasy ride but before you give your boss a piece of your mind there's a few things you need to consider.

First, you need to realize that probably 99% of all home business / work from home offers out there are flat out scams. After all, if it was that easy to pay a few dollars and make thousands, wouldn't everyone be doing it by now and why tell you about it?

Below I've listed and briefly discussed how to recognize and avoid a few of the biggest scams out there.

Location… Location… Location
Check out every offer and assume it's a scam until you have iron-clad proof that it's not. A few things to consider are: Where did you see that work from home offer? If you got it by traditional mail or by email or saw it on a poster taped around a telephone pole, then I can guarantee you right now that it's not a legitimate offer. On the other hand, if you saw the ad in a newspaper, in a jobs magazine or on a jobs website, then it's a little more likely to be legit - but not necessarily.

Envelope Stuffing
Will this scam ever end? Well, not until people stop falling for it. This is the most established work-from-home scam of all time and it's been going on for what seems like forever now. How it works is that once you pay your money and sign up to work from home, you are sent a set of envelopes and ads just like the one you responded to. The whole idea is to simply get names of people who are interested in home business ops and get a quick buck. You could make a little money if you mail to the right mailing list but don't count it. Work from home offers like this are simply illegal pyramid schemes. You will not make money putting letters into envelopes - so get over it and move on!

Shoddy Supplies
The practice of charging for supplies is hard to pin down to any one scam - it's a common most work-at-home scams work (including the envelope stuffing scam mentioned above). You'll be asked to make a minimal "investment" for whatever materials will be needed to do the work and then you'll receive a collection of very shoddy materials that are worth a fraction of what you paid for them and last but not least you'll soon realize that there was never a market for work anyway.

Don't walk - run… if anyone asks for money upfront. Any company worth it's salt would be willing to deduct any "fees" from your first paycheck. Any company not willing to do that, is in all likely-hood simply out to scam you into giving them some upfront money and then as the saying goes… "leaving dodge" as quickly as possible.

Working for Free
This variation on the scam is common with crafts. You might be asked to work from home making clothes, ornaments or toys. Everything appears to be legitimate - you received materials without paying any money and you're doing the work. Unfortunately for you, when you send the work back, the company will tell you that it didn't meet their "quality standards" and will refuse to pay you. They will then sell what you've provided and move on to the next sucker.

Never do craft type work from home unless you're selling the items yourself. Remember, you don't need to restrict your sales to consumers only… you could also be selling to wholesalers. The bottom line is this, you need to be the one deciding what you make and then collect the money yourself.

Medical Billing, Typing From Home and More
Many work-from-home scams involve persuading you that some industry has more work to do than it can handle and so it has to outsource to people like you, working from home. For example, you might be told that you'll be typing legal documents or entering medical bills into an electronic database. These scams have one thing in common - they all say that all you need is a computer and they go on to explain that all you need to do to make big bucks is to buy some "special software".

The software is package so it appears to be from a completely unrelated company, but don't be fooled - the whole purpose behind this so-called opportunity is to simply sell you the over-priced and worthless software. And of course, once you open and load the software on your computer you will never get your money back because that's how all software guarantees work. Once you break the seal you own it.

Starting your own home based business is a dream that millions of people have and it's a legitimate and worthy endeavor. Unfortunately, the crooks out there know this and they play on these desires and so you need to be very cautious. And remember, starting a home business that involves "working" for another company isn't the best idea even if they offer a completely legitimate opportunity. The reason is because even if they do pay you for your work, you still won't earn anywhere near the income could if you were to start a home-based business where you created your own product or service. So why even bother with these outside companies at all?

Every-one wants to start their own home business. But what if I told you 99% of websites claiming to show you how to make money from home are scams!!!

If you are planning to start your own home business you have to realize that making money from home is not as easy as most websites say it is. There are skills and discipline that needs to be acquired to be successful. Now I bet you have been looking at sites that state you can start making money within 15 minutes or start earning thousands of dollars a day all on auto pilot.

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If you are planning to start your own home business you have to realize that making money from home is not as easy as most websites say it is. There are skills and discipline that needs to be acquired to be successful. Now I bet you have been looking at sites that state you can start making money within 15 minutes or start earning thousands of dollars a day all on auto pilot.

Well it can actually can be achieved but only if you know what your doing. Nine times out of ten most people haven’t got a clue about making money online or how it’s done. Believe me most websites are just after your money and will keep everything that really works all to them self’s, this way they can keep telling you “you need this” and “then you need that” and basically, they just keep sucking money out of you.

Well if it’s aright with you I would like to give you an inside look of some of the skills that you will need to run a successful home business.

Skill 1- Research

Now if you have happen to buy some sort of e-book that tells you “find something your passionate about or enjoy doing” Big mistake more than likely there will be millions of other people selling that product or service.

As I said you will need skills to find hot markets that have very little competition. So you will need to learn how to research and find those hot little markets in the form of keywords.

Skill 2- Link building

Then comes getting traffic “visitors to your website” another very important skill you must have. Without traffic you will fail terribly. There are quiet a few ways to get traffic to your site but I think the best traffic is from the search engines. But you will definitely need “link” building skills to get your site in the top ten rankings.

Skill 3- copy writing

But even if you get heaps of traffic it’s useless unless you can convert customers into buyers. Now you need to master how to write a sales copy or pre-sell a product or service. This skill is very important and without this all your hard work will be in vain. Personally it took me 8 months before I made a single sale. I knew nothing about making money online, so like I said it is not that easy as most websites make out. So next time your on a “Make big money online” website that’s telling you “You can quit your job tomorrow”, take a closer look and see if they mention anything about teaching you real long term skills. Because honestly without them you are going to fail “period”.

Ok I hope this information helps you out a bit there are lots of things to learn when it comes to making money online these are just a few skills you will need and there are plenty more. To explain them here would take me days but look to find out more just use your search engine and type in these keywords

1. How to research hot markets.

2.Link building

3.Copy writing

Bye for now and good luck!!

Get Rich Quick Scams Revealed!

Read this special article before joining or paying for any 'Get Rich Quick' program. The author has gone inside hundreds of operations and visited with the owners. He came away from his 6-month investigation with only two recommendations from hundreds. A must read if you've been tempted to jump into what appears to be a legitimate operation to make some extra cash.

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affiliate programs, home business, internet business, business opportunities, online business opportunities, scams

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From the desk of Bruce A. Santucci (Senior Reviewer) - May 5, 2006

Wouldn’t it be nice to make a bundle of money quickly, with minimal effort, working at home in your pajamas? Of course it would. I for one would love to have money flowing into my bank account, working only a few hours a week from home, so I’d have more time to spend with my family, without any boss looking over my shoulder.

Whether it’s real estate investing, selling by classified ads, stock market investing, internet affiliate marketing or something else, we’ve all seen the fantastic claims people make about making tons of money, AND how they can show you how to do the same thing. I can tell you right now that 99% of these people are total frauds. You may even have fallen prey to one of these scam artists, selling you their latest “get rich quick” programs. Me too. I’ve bought so many of these programs that I can’t even recall how many. I don’t know why, but I tend to find the ‘good’ in people, and I was “sold” by these marketing schemes time and time again, even after being scammed by another. Finally, after so many disappointments, I got FED UP. I decided to get to the bottom of this fascination we all have with get rich programs, and find out if there really were any LEGITIMATE programs for making money.

I literally contacted the administrator of every get rich quick website I could find. Posing as an investor, I managed to convince the owners that I was seriously interested in purchasing their entire website and business. That way, once the dollar signs flashed in their heads, they would give me free access to their member’s areas to review what I would be “buying”. Well, I was disgusted with 99% of what I found. Many of the owners actually boasted about how many people bought their useless programs. I repeatedly found:
• Outdated information
• Non-working links
• Links leading to other sites that asked for more money
• No help section
• No real email support

I quickly realized that these so called Get Rich Quick programs were totally useless. And the owners knew it, yet they were laughing all the way to the bank! Needless to say, I didn’t respond when they asked if I was still interested in buying their websites. Surprisingly, while sifting through all of the scam artist’s websites, I was able to locate a couple of individuals that actually ran legitimate programs.

The owners were every day people like you and me that found a way to make extra money working from home on their computers. Their membership areas were impressive, with a good amount of quality information on how to make $100-$200 per day on your computer doing very little work. I even chatted with a few of their customers in several online forums, and they verified that they were making extra money through the sites. It was like I found a few diamonds in the rough. But don’t take my word for it. You can visit the 2 sites I found below. See what you think.

They do charge a minimal fee for access to their program, which is to be expected for any legitimate company that actually has people on staff who are dedicated to helping you get started. What a friendly group of people! Anyway, if you decide you are interested in either of the two programs below, I advise you to join quickly, as the owners have informed me that they are getting so many new members by word of mouth referrals, that they will be closing off membership in the next few days. (By the way, you didn’t hear this from me!) They don’t have a large enough staff to accommodate many more people, and they are dedicated to providing excellent service to each person.

Well, my search for legitimate Get Rich Quick programs has come to an end. I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed with most of what I found, and I strongly advise that you do not take chances joining any programs other than the two listed below!

Here are two sites amongst hundreds I've investigated and tested that actually deliver on their promises: (Note that neither are 'get rich quick schemes' - both are legitimate and both work as advertised)

http://www.cashflowexperts.biz/cmd.asp?af=359516
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/main/13353/

Don’t Get Caught By Work At Home Scams

You've decided that you want to give up that 9 to 5 and be your own boss. You've decided on your niche and done some research into it. But how do you avoid getting caught by work from home scams?

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You've decided that you want to give up that 9 to 5 and be your own boss. You've decided on your niche and done some research into it. What do you need to do next? Source a product to bring in some money.

There are many websites out there that are legitimate, enabling you to build a substantial business and earn money working from home on the Internet. You could be answering questionnaires for $20 each, reading transcripts of books prior to being published, writing articles. However, there are others, generically called “get rich quick schemes”. These schemes encourage you to spend money that you haven't got with false promises on the returns on your investment. The people who run these schemes (scammers) prey on the naïve or vulnerable and reel them in. Once, you are under their spell there is no letting go. Some, even ask you to pay money upfront stating that they'll double even quadruple it for you!

The auction sites are the worst sites for these people to hide in and wait for their prey. You've probably all visited one at some time, searching for that special gift for a family member, friend or even yourself. The scammers advertise their merchandise, usually something that is a much sought after product. You see it and snap it up, pay, they get your money and you don't get the goods. This happens time and time again.

Help is available though. The Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) and Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov) are two organizations that are there to help you keep away from these fraudulent scams and check out the legitimate ones on the Internet to prevent you from losing you're hard earned cash. They are encouraging people to complain to them about these scams. If you get caught up in one, no matter how much money is involved, you MUST report it and stop it from happening to some other unsuspecting person trying to look for an honest way to make a living online.

You owe it to yourself to check out the Companies or people that are advertising a scheme or goods. Do they have testimonials and are they real? Follow them up by contacting the people who have made the testimonials. Visit their sites and check them out through the Better Business Bureau and Federal Trade Commission.

Forums are a good place to get some help. They are full of valuable advice. You can read up on the benefits and pitfalls of schemes or ventures you are intending to embark on or perhaps you'd like to ask some specific questions. All of the members have had to start from somewhere and they will give you good, honest advice.

Ensure that you are aware of what is happening and beware of that email dropping into your inbox stating that you can “get rich quick”. There is no easy way to make money on the Internet, it takes a lot of time, effort, determination and hard work.

Remember:- If it looks to good to be true, it probably is.

Check scams - When can you be sure a check is actually good?

Check scams abound in society today. When can you be sure a check is good?

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Protecting yourself from scams is becoming increasingly harder since credit theft is on the rise in the nation. Thieves steal more than your possessions. They now steal your identity, credit cards, checks and more.

When you deposit a check in your checking account, the bank makes the funds available in two to five days. Does this mean you are really safe? No, not necessarily. Federal rules require the banks to release the funds to you in that time frame. Yet, it can take weeks before the bank actually discovers if the check is fraudulent. Most consumers believe the phrase “the check has cleared” means it is not fraudulent.

Should the check turn out to be fraudulent, the depositor is responsible for the money. You have probably received a notice from your bank called a “Fraud Alert”. This statement tells you that you are the responsible party and provides you some information. Since you deal with the person who gave you the money, you are in the best position to determine if it is risky.

You could find that you must repay the bank for bad checks. This can obviously cause financial problems, stress and, if you are not in a good position, could cause you to have credit issues.

Steps you can take to protection yourself:

1. Don’t accept a check for more than it should be. Question this practice.
2. Is the account in the name of the buyer who is paying you?
3. Don’t agree to pay money to others in foreign countries for deposits you accept here.
4. Play it safe.

Use your good judgment to protect yourself. If there is any doubt in your mind, don’t proceed. As the advice of a qualified professional before you get involved. Using care will help you avoid future problems.

Get Rich Quick Scams Revealed

Read this special article before you consider joining or paying for a "Get Rich Quick" program.

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Wouldn't it be nice to make a bundle of money quickly, with very little effort, working on your computer at home? You know it Would Be! I know for me I also would love to have money constantly going into my bank account day after day while working only a few hours each week, This way I could have more quality time to enjoy with my wife and kids, without a nasty boss always pushing me and having to deal with a horrible daily commute and difficult co-workers!!

Whether it's real estate investing, using classified ads, investing in the stock market, internet affiliate marketing programs, or other online businesses, All of us are constantly bombarded by the fantastic claims of people selling "Get Rich" programs in which they CLAIM people are making tons of money, AND how they can show you how to do the same thing FOR A PRICE! I can tell you right now, with great certainty that 99% of these folks and programs are total scams! You like me, may have even been duped into believing and buying one or even more of these "get rich now” products. I have bought so many of these products that I have forgotten how many!!

What a waste of time and hard earned money! I don't know why, but I guess it has to do with the fact that I believe that most people are basically "good", and as a result I was "sold" by these hyped up marketing schemes again and again, Ouch that hurt! Finally after being consistently let down and scammed yet again, I just got FED UP! I then decided to finally get to the bottom of this fascination we all have with these "GET RICH" products and programs. I then decided to find out if there really were any REAL programs for making a living online!

I actually contacted the people behind every "get rich" website I could find in my extensive research over the last 4 years! I posed as an investor and managed to persuade the owners that I was someone intent on buying their website business. This way, once the big dollars were being dangled in front of them, they would give me free access to their member’s areas to review the websites and products I would be buying! Well as I mentioned before, I was completely repulsed and disgusted by 99% of what I found! (No big surprise after the 200th website I investigated!) You know what? Most of the owners (91%) boosted about how many people bought their bogus programs! Here is what I found again and again:

* Links in their products that did not work!

* Outdated Information

* Links to their other websites asking for More Money!

* No help for customers after buying their Program!

* No email support after purchase, no email at ALL!

I realized that these so called "GET RICH" products and websites were completely misleading scams and worthless! And you know what? The owners totally knew it!

But they told me they were very happy on their way to the bank! (Laughing all the way!) Needless to say I failed to reply when I was contacted about purchasing their websites! Interestingly while doing all this extensive research on all these bogus websites, rip off programs and Get Rich Scams.

I did find a few reputable business men that sold PROFITABLE programs that actually do make money for their customers.

I found that the business owners were just every day people similar to you and me that had found strategies that worked to make money online regularly and consistently.

I thoroughly checked out their programs and websites and I was very impressed with the wealth of current, practical strategies and information that they provide. Their products really work! Their programs and websites on making a living on the internet are making people an average of $100 to $300 per day using their computer at home and doing very little work. I did some further research on their programs on various online forums to see if what I was told was true, and you know what? People were very pleased and highly recommended these products; they told me they were making good money REGULARLY! They were extremely satisfied with the products and really enjoyed being able to make real money by working at home! It was wonderful to find out that after all my research I actually had some real products that I could in good conscience recommend to people who want the freedom that a real online business can provide. Please don't just believe me, just check out the links below and see for yourself! You will be glad you did!

They do charge a fee to access their programs, which is to be expected for any legitimate company that actually has people on staff who are dedicated to helping you get started. If you decide you are interested in any of the programs, I suggest you act quickly, as I have been informed that they are getting so many new members by word of mouth referrals that they may be closing off membership in the next few days. (You didn’t hear that from me!)

Well my search for legitimate "GET RICH" programs has finally come to an end. I must say that I was so thoroughly disappointed and frustrated with 99% of what I found that I encourage you not to waste your time and your hard earned money joining any programs
other than those listed in my website below

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do, and hope the financial freedom you seek for you and your family comes to you soon!

Wishing you all the best,

Sincerely
Carmelo Mastroeli

And best of all, each of these programs below offer a no questions asked,

100% money-back guarantee for up to 60 days. That way, you can try them out for up to two months and if you're not completely satisfied with the results, they will gladly refund your money. So you really have nothing to lose!

You can find them here at www.ultimatewealthprograms.com

Data Entry Scams

Many people have grown weary after trying many Data Entry programs only to have lost their time and money. It is very easy to get scammed on the Internet now days. Whenever there are a lot of people that are making money, the old scammers will come to get their share.

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Many people have grown weary after trying many Data Entry programs only to have lost their time and money. It is very easy to get scammed on the Internet now days. Whenever there is a lot of people that are making money, the old scammers will come to get their share.

It is good to see people at least trying to do some fundamental research. You can see the phrases being searched for by checking the online search engines. They are phrases such as data entry scams, data entry job scams, data entry online scams and data entry work at home scams.

I have written in many of my articles that research is the key in my opinion. No one has a crystal ball, but with the proper research you can put yourself in the best chance for success. You can't just join the first program you find that promises you the world, and expect to be successful. You will either have to find a website like mine, but not necessarily mine, that has done some research for you or spend the hours to do the research yourself. It's that simple, otherwise you can expect to have limited success.

In my research I wanted Data Entry companies that had good, customer support, product, track record of on time payments, step-by-step guidance on how to be successful with their program and a money back guarantee when possible. I also encourage feedback from my customers to ensure that if there is any change I am able to respond quickly.

There is another side to this whole scam thing. Many times people will see the ads, join a program, not do any work and expect to be paid a lot of dollars. It's simple if you are not prepared to do any work at home, then don't join, because chances are you are not going to be happy or make any money. The folks that join under these circumstances typically end up quitting and calling the program a scam and move on to lose some money somewhere else. Many times programs are called scams when actually its either someone wanting to get paid for doing nothing or it's simply not a good fit for that person. That's why I particularly like the money back guarantee programs, because this minimizes this problem. Sometimes when a company gives the person the refund, it does not help, because the person goes around on forums posting that they have been scammed anyway. Sad!

It's sad because viable programs get scammed and lumped in with the really bad programs that are out there. There is plenty of the bad ones out there already without anyone adding to the list. You need to either do the research or use a website that has done it already to have a chance for success.

If you are reading this article you more than likely have the skill sets and equipment necessary to work from home doing data entry.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Find a good program using the methods mentioned above

2. Join the program

3. Start working the program either full or part time

4. Have some patience, while you get your work at hope program up and running

With some research, discipline, patience and yes a little luck you will be on your way to making a nice income while sitting in the comfort of your home.

Please feel free to read more of this article by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.