A lot of people think of the Better Business Bureau when they want to learn about a company. That’s why a lot of people go to their site when they aren’t sure if they’re looking at a work at home scam. The BBB has built up a lot of trust through the years as a resource for checking out any sort of business you might deal with. Shouldn’t they be a good choice to help you avoid being scammed when you’re looking for work?

Overall, I’d give them a “meh.”

It’s not that you can’t look up a company and find out they’re a scam there. You can. Sometimes. The problem is that they can’t keep up with all the scams, some scams use the names of legitimate companies, and not all complaints to the BBB mean that they’re a scam.

Scams Come, Scams Go

New work at home scams come all the time. Just as with any other resource you use for finding work at home scams, the BBB won’t know about it until they start getting complaints about it.

This is particularly true of online businesses. It takes very little to set up a website. Scams online can change names very easily with the simple switch of a domain name.

If a business is in a potentially questionable industry, the BBB may have a notation on their listing for that business when they do have a listing there. It doesn’t guarantee that it’s a scam, just that you should use caution.

Complaints Only Mean So Much

A complaint to the BBB about a business only means so much. I just checked a variety of Walmart listings there. A corporate listing had over 200 resolved complaints, while individual stores had anywhere from a few complaints to too little information for the BBB to even rate them. That’s a major company where each location does a lot of business.

You have to look at what the complaints are and see if you can determine their relevance. When it comes to working at home, some people will scream scam at the slightest provocation, such as not having success handed to them on a silver platter. Others will complain with real reason behind it. You have to figure out if there’s something you should be concerned about.

The Internet Offers a Wide Array of Resources to Check for Work at Home Scams

The other problem I have with relying on the BBB to determine if something is a work at home scam is that there’s such a wonderful range of places to check opportunities out. There are sites such as scam.com that are dedicated to discussing all kinds of scams. There are posts people make on their own sites and others when they realize they’ve been scammed, all available through a search. Focusing on one organization just isn’t enough.

Sometimes you can spot a scam just by pasting a part of your correspondence with them or a part of their ad into a search engine. Include the word “scam” and it can be very interesting what turns up. A lot of scams use the same text over and over again, and it’s not too uncommon for frustrated scam victims to post their correspondence online.

I absolutely don’t mean you should avoid checking with the BBB when you’re concerned about an online scam. They’re a resource – use them. Just remember that they aren’t your only resource.

You’re a Resource Too

Finally, remember that you are a great resource for spotting work at home scams yourself. If something feels wrong about an opportunity, think about why it feels wrong. You might just be on to something.

When you’re thinking about applying for or accepting a work at home job or joining a home business opportunity, review what you know about it and look for the signs of a scam. If you don’t get overexcited about the opportunity you can often spot the scams on your own. And when you’re still in doubt, start asking around. People on the internet will often share their opinions on the matter.

They’ve been promising for a while that they’d be looking harder at online activities, and now the FTC has taken action against a number of scams as a part of “Operation Empty Promises.” These scams were damaging to a number of people who were trying to find work in this challenging economy.

To be specific, they’ve taken 90 actions against companies that falsely promised employment or successful businesses to job seekers. It’s good to see these things go down, as while I’d love for everyone to be able to spot a scam without help, desperate people don’t always think so clearly, and get taken for large amounts of money.

I do mean large. The article notes that with the scam through Ivy Capital, some people paid up to $20,000 for coaching that was supposed to help them start a business. I can scarcely imagine the pain of being desperate for an income and losing that much money. A part of the claim is that coaches weren’t competent, and other offerings were not as they seemed.

They started by getting victims contact information when they responded to work at home ads and online business opportunities. The ads were for companies such as Jennifer Johnson’s Home Job Placement Program and Brent Austin’s Automated Wealth System.

People responded to these ads, and received telemarketing calls that would do a hard sell on them to get them to sign up for services that they said would gain them a lot of money with little effort. You may know my opinion of such things, but if you don’t I think it’s ridiculous. Very few people make any sort of a living based on a few hours of work a week, never mind thousands of dollars.

Fake Sales Jobs

Another company, National Sales Group, is accused of making false claims about available sales jobs, claiming to recruit for Fortune 1000 companies, then charging excessive fees for background checks and adding in recurring fees without informing their victims. I suppose while you’re stealing someone’s money you aren’t going to be too anxious to let them know about it.

These first companies are just in the process of being taken down by the FTC, and there has not yet been an official ruling on them. Nevertheless, they have been court ordered to cease their practices and have had assets frozen.

Other Scams Shut Down

The FTC had a few victories in court cases against some other scams as well. A couple of these are practically classic examples of work at home scams. There was a home crafting scam, an envelope stuffing scam, and some job board scams. Good to see these gone.

How Do You Look Into Opportunities?

Whether you’re looking at a work at home job or a home business opportunity, you need to do your research before you pay anything or give them much information about yourself.

The first thing you need to be aware of is any expenses associated with the opportunity you’re considering. This should be easy to discover. If the offer is vague, that’s not a good sign of a legitimate opportunity. You should know what your upfront expenses are and if you’re likely to continue to have expenses.

If you’re talking about a job, there shouldn’t be any upfront expenses, aside from occasionally a very reasonable cost for a background check. Many employers do not charge applicants for the background check, so be a bit extra wary if they want you to pay for it.

Paying for access to job listings can be legitimate, but only occasionally is. If they’re claiming that you absolutely, positively will get a fantastic, high paying job, step back. They’re probably not honest about what you’ll get. No job board or other job resource can promise you that. It’s up to the employer.

You should also consider how fast they say you’re going to be successful. Scams always make it sound easy to succeed, but the reality of any business is that it takes a lot of work to earn a living. Starting a business online does not mean you’re going to earn massive sums of money. If it were that simple I wouldn’t have to write these kinds of warnings. We’d all be on a nice island vacation or something.

Business opportunities are supposed to disclose what the average results are with their program, not just what their top performers do. Scams usually don’t.

I have to admit, that one is a bit tricky. Given how many people want to start a home business, and buy information to help them do it but never take action, the average almost has to be close to zero. Even of those who take action, I don’t believe there’s any one program that will be right for every person who tries it.

You should also know exactly how you’ll be working on your business and earning money. Hands off is not realistic. A real business requires you to do something.

Even autoblogging, which many online marketers talk up as an easy form of business, takes work. You can’t just throw a bunch of articles on a site and make it work. You need to research to figure out how to get the best information to your site, and you have to build backlinks for it. Not my kind of business at all, as most are easily taken down by search engines for not providing useful information, but also not as easy as proponents claim.

The most important thing is to just be realistic about what you expect you can earn from home and what it will take to get there. It’s not all easy. There’s a lot of hard work involved, and if you think otherwise you’re setting yourself up to fall for someone else’s scam.

The biggest problem with working at home is getting started. It’s tough! There are more scams than real opportunities out there, and lots of people get sucked in, not knowing any better. There has to be a way to spot a work at home scam, right?

Actually, there are several ways.

There’s no way to 100% guarantee you won’t fall for a scam, but many are so obvious that you can avoid them just by paying attention.

1. Ridiculously high pay.

If the pay is amazingly high for the amount of effort, it’s probably a scam. Thousands of dollars a month for easy, part time work – scam!

2. No resume required.

Real employers want to know about your past work experience. They are not going to hire every person who contacts them. They want the best person for the job, and your resume is a part of how they screen out the people they know they don’t want.

Scammers don’t much care about your resume. They don’t care about your past work experience. They want to suck you in quickly and get your personal information and/or money. Resumes are nothing to scammers.

3. Call for information.

Work at home positions don’t have people for you to call for more information. Real businesses are too busy with their business to deal with that many job seekers. When it’s a work at home job on the line, there will be a lot of people calling if there’s a number available, and employers know it.

Scammers want to talk to you. How else are they going to get you to bite? They want to appeal to your dreams of an easy work at home job with high pay. That’s easier to do with personal contact.

4. Ad says “work at home.”

For the most part, legitimate work at home positions are labeled as “telecommute” positions. It’s certainly not a featured part of the ad. Real employers want the best person for the job, not the one who first notices the chance to work at home and then the job requirements.

Scammers know people type things like “work at home” into job boards and search engines. Having that phrase feature prominently in the ad is one way to get your attention.

5. “No Experience Necessary.”

Sure, there are jobs out there that don’t require experience. There aren’t many of them in the work at home world, however. Working at home is demanding, and employers want to know that you have at least some sort of work experience, preferably in the industry you’re about to start working in. If experience isn’t an absolute necessity, they may something more along the lines of “entry level position.”

Scammers, once again, don’t care about your work experience. They count on your desperation to find some sort of work at home.

6. Vague job listing.

One of the great things about the internet is that employers can give details about what they’re looking for in an employee. It’s not like it was when job ads were usually in the newspaper, and space came at a premium.

These days you should expect to see specific skill and/or experience requirements in job ads. Employers don’t want tons of resumes from people who aren’t remotely qualified for the position. They want to hear from people who have as many of the skills listed as possible and a willingness to earn the rest.

Scammers don’t need to give a lot of information. They know the suckers are going to contact them anyway.

7. Pay to show your interest.

Scammers love to talk about how many people are interested in their opportunity. That’s why they need you to send them some money to show that you’re serious about the opportunity. It gets rid of all the people who aren’t serious about this fantastic opportunity you’re going to miss out on if you don’t send in your money.

When was the last time you heard about a company wanting people to pay to apply? Never sounds about right.

8.They want your bank account information.

Some scams will ask for your bank account information, saying they want to direct deposit your pay. Direct deposit is a wonderful thing, you get your money faster, but be careful in sharing your banking information with anyone.

If you want direct deposit for your pay, make absolutely certain the opportunity is legitimate first. You may have to work a while and receive paper paychecks for a time to be certain if the company is not well known. Even if you have researched the company, make sure you’re really dealing with who you think you’re dealing with, as some scams steal the names of legitimate companies to gain your trust.

Being scammed when you just want to earn a living by working at home sucks. It goes beyond annoying. You lose both money and time, plus you have to listen to all of the people who say “I told you so” when they claimed that all work at home opportunities are scams.

Is there anything you can do?

Be Careful

If you’re going to expose a scam, first and foremost be certain it was a scam, not just something that didn’t work out for you. I can’t tell you how often people run to forums complaining that some home business opportunity is nothing but a scam when it was really just a mismatch to their skills or they really didn’t try hard with it.

Be certain you have your facts straight. Call an opportunity a scam publicly when it’s not can lead to legal troubles. Sometimes scams will threaten legal action even when you’re precisely right about what happened, to get the information taken down. Most times it’s not going to happen, but be aware of the possibilities.

You need to be able to point to specific information showing that the opportunity was a scam. This could include a saved and/or printed copy of their sales page and any correspondence between you and the scammer.

Report to the Internet Crime Complaint Center

You can report online scams to the FBI through the IC3 website if either you or the scammer are in the United States. They’ll send it on to appropriate law enforcement, who may or may not act on your complaint. According to their FAQ, you can complain about “advance-fee schemes, non-delivery of goods or services, computer hacking, or employment/business opportunity schemes” as well as other crimes committed online.

Better have your facts straight. If an investigation is opened, you will want your evidence to be available. But also know that not all complaints will be acted upon.

Report to the Affiliate Who Referred You

If you went through an affiliate’s link to a scam, let them know why you think it was a scam. Some are very helpful and may be able to help you get a resolution on the matter. Other times they can’t, but if an affiliate values their relationship with newsletter subscribers or website visitors, they’ll at least apologize, and may even remove the offer from their site.

Report to the Site Advertising the Scam

If a site is more generally advertising a scam, let them know. You might be able to get the ad taken down.

If the ad was on Craigslist, flag it to report the scam. If the scam is a Google ad, check to see if it violates any AdWords policies, and report it if so. Google doesn’t allow the advertising of data entry affiliate programs or programs with unclear billing practices, for example.

Post on Forums

This can be a risky one, but really handy if the scam has been discussed on a forum you already frequent. Others will want to know your experience.

Stick to the facts and don’t exaggerate. Don’t get personal if people disagree with you. It takes more time for some people to see through a scam, and denial plays a big part. Otherwise most pyramid schemes wouldn’t last as long as they usually do.

There are also forums dedicated to unveiling scams. It may not hurt to post your experiences on one of them.

Keep Being Careful

It bears repeating. Just because an opportunity didn’t work out for you doesn’t automatically make it a scam. Really think before you start spreading word that it was a scam.

I’ve always felt for the people who are trying to get started working from home. It’s tough. You hear about and find more scams than you do legitimate opportunities. And when you find something you think might be good, there’s a price tag attached.

Is it a scam or isn’t it?

The trouble is that costing money isn’t as clear cut a pointer to a scam as you might like. If they say it’s a work at home job, that you’ll be employed by them and so forth, then yes, most likely it is. But if it’s a home business, there are no guarantees.

Not All Work at Home Expenses Mean It’s a Scam

This is the hard part. Many work at home jobs are in fact independent contractor opportunities. That means that you aren’t an employee. You’re running a business. They have certain things they need you to buy or pay for.

Some legitimate employers expect you to pay for your own background check, for example. I’ve never been too happy about this one, as the search for employees should be a cost of doing business.

There are companies such as Arise, which expect you to pay for your own training as well. These are positions in areas such as customer service and tech support. You have to certify for each client you work for through them. That’s their business model, yet other companies in the same industry don’t require this. They’re upfront about it, however, and once you’ve met all the requirements you’re able to start working and they do pay. Not a scam, just a bit pricier than you might have planned.

Most legitimate work at home jobs will expect you to have certain things already, such as a computer, high speed internet access, possibly a dedicated second phone line, a headset and appropriate software. These are all things you will probably be buying if needed on your own, not through any potential employer.

So When is It a Scam?

Some things in a work at home “job” opportunity flag it easily as a scam. Being expected to pay to prove that you’re seriously interested, for example. Jobs do not have application fees. As I said above, sometimes you will have to pay for a background check, other times your potential employer will do so, but that’s something different.

If you have to buy software from your potential “employer” it’s likely a scam. Generally speaking you’ll either be using software you can buy elsewhere or the employer will provide you with their proprietary software at no expense.

If they’re sending you a check to go buy supplies I would also consider that a big red flag. I had this one come up on my forum recently. If an employer needs you to have particular equipment, it makes plenty of sense for them to send you the equipment, not a check for you to go buy it yourself. There are too many scams involving check cashing out there.

What If You Can’t Tell If It’s a Job or a Home Business?

So many home business opportunities like to talk up the opportunity as though it’s a job. Sometimes jobs really are business opportunities. If you’re going to be an independent contractor, strictly speaking you’re running your own business. That said, pay attention to IRS rules about whether or not you’re really an independent contractor or an employee.  Many businesses are having to be more careful about who they call independent contractors and who they call employees, as this impacts how taxes are paid and by which party.

But other opportunities call themselves work at home jobs yet have nothing to do with being employed by that company. I’ve seen people advertise network marketing opportunities, affiliate marketing opportunities and more as work at home jobs, when it’s perfectly clear that they’re really home business opportunities.

My own rule of thumb is that if they can’t be upfront about the work being a home business opportunity, I’ll find someone else to learn from.

This is extremely common in supposed data entry work at home jobs. They’ll tell you that you’re filling in forms. The forms are for paying per click for advertising in search engine results, and you’re the one paying for every click, then getting a commission on sales or leads.

That’s a business, not a job. If the person who says they can teach me to do that can’t be upfront about that part, I don’t need to learn from him or her. I’ll find someone who can be upfront about the risks as well as the potential benefits. There are great resources for that out there, such as the AdWords Guide.

For those who are interested, pay per click advertising can be quite lucrative if you master it, but often expensive to learn. Not every campaign will pay off, even for those who are good at it.

It’s Hard to Tell the Difference Sometimes

Even the most alert job seeker will sometimes have trouble telling if an opportunity is a work at home job, home business or a scam. Some of the people who advertise these things are very good at obscuring the truth.

When in doubt, ask around.

Ask on work at home forums. Ask anyone in your life who understands that there are some legitimate work at home jobs out there. Just get a second opinion before you take too big of a risk.

You can even contact the person advertising the opportunity and ask for more details. See what they have to say. If they’re being too vague you may not want to trust them. If it becomes clear that it’s really not what you’re after, there’s your decision. If it’s sounding better, you might be starting the application process or you might be asking on some forums or elsewhere what people think of the additional details.

In many cases, searching for “opportunity name scam” isn’t going to get you the results you were after. Too many marketers have figured that one out, and positive reviews abound for many questionable products under titles such as “Is Opportunity Name a Scam?”

It’s not easy to find legitimate work at home jobs out there. There are way too many scams, and too many businesses trying to get your attention by pretending that they’re jobs. But there are great opportunities out there for those who find them.