Planet Antares Scam Info – How to Avoid Work at Home Scams
In today’s tough economy, people are looking for gainful employment or ways to make extra money. The notion of working at home may be very appealing, but there are a number of “work at home” scams that promise big returns and produce little real income.
How can you avoid work at home scams? Being diligent about researching the work offer can save you a lot of expense and heartache, especially if your money is tight to begin with. Here are some tips to help you avoid work at home scams.
Review the work offer carefully. Know what you’re being asked to do and how much work is involved. Be wary of unsolicited job offers, and offers that promise fast cash, financial freedom or a full-time salary for just a few hours’ work each week.
Know when you’ll get paid. Understand whether you’ll be working for a salary, sales or production commissions, or a mixture of both.
Don’t pay to work. Legitimate employers do not require you to buy startup kits, supplies for the work, training sessions or anything else, for that matter. If the “employer” is asking you to send them money, you’re probably dealing with a scam.
Investigate the employer. Research the employer carefully using publicly available information sources. Ask the prospective employer for references, its Federal tax ID number (EIN) or contact information for persons currently working in the same arrangement. Use a Web site like EINFinder to determine whether the company is legitimate. Finding a company’s tax ID number isn’t a guarantee of legitimacy, but not finding one can be a sign that you’re dealing with a fraud. Also, check with your state’s Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau to learn if other people have filed complaints against the employer. Check out Scam.com which identifies a large collection of work at home scams.
Don’t turn over personal information until you have a legitimate job offer. Legitimate employers need certain information to process your hiring paperwork, including your Social Security Number and identification. You may also need to provide banking information if you want to be paid by direct deposit. Unfortunately, scam artists can use this information to access your bank accounts and credit. Be very careful about who you turn this information over to.
Generally speaking, offers that involve multi-level marketing (MLM) arrangements, data entry or claims processing, posting information to online bulletin boards and forums (like Craigslist), at-home assembly work, envelope-stuffing and other similar jobs aren’t legitimate work offers.
