Work At Home Moms Beware!
by: Andrew Murrayfield
In this day and age a new trend is emerging where a group known collectively as single moms want to stay at home looking after the children, whilst being able to contribute towards the family income.
This group actually comprises of single moms, disabled mothers, moms low on cash and mothers who generally would like a better standard of living.
Finding ways to work from home, ideally doing only a few hours each day and still being able to bring up your children without resorting to employing nannies etc. would seem like the ideal solution. Many moms look to the internet or local newspaper adverts for opportunities to earn money from home. Unfortunately the scammers know this, and to them, these unsuspecting victims are 'easy meat'.
They are faced with adverts that promise a better lifestyle, lots of free time, and the ability to earn vast quantities of extra cash with no real training or expertise. This is exactly what the unsuspecting moms would like to hear and therefore they become very easy targets.
What makes things even worse is the fact that the majority of moms who lose money to the scammers, never try to retrieve the cash they have paid out in good faith.
So what are the most prevalent scams that one comes across nowadays?
Let us start with three of the most popular that can be found anywhere you look for working from home opportunities, these being:
· Envelope Stuffing
· Medical Billing
· Home Assembly
Each of these three take a different route to the same end. That end being to make you pay upfront for a service that basically is non-existent.
Envelope Stuffing
Envelope Stuffing scams promise moms up to $2000 for mailing 400 brochures with free postage and stationary supplies. After calling a toll free number, a pre- recorded
message instructs you to leave your name and address for more information. Shortly afterwards you will receive a letter claiming that if you pay the $35.00 registration fee then for every envelope you fill and post, $5.00 will be paid to your account.
So you pay the fee, only to find that you either get a letter telling you to place an advert exactly the same as the one you replied to, or a list of companies that if contacted already have in-house envelope sealing and addressing machines, and as such do not require your services!
Medical Billing
Medical Billing ads lure consumers with promises of substantial income working from home full- or part-time - "no experience required." They direct consumers to call a toll-free number for more information.
On calling, a sales representative will entice you to sign up by telling you that the processing of medical claims is a very lucrative business, that doctors are desperate for help with electronic claims processing, and that you - even without any experience - can do this work from the comfort of your home, after you have bought the software off them, for a charge of sometimes up to $8000
In exchange for the initial fee, they claim to provide everything you supposedly need to launch your medical billing business: the software program to process the claims and a list of prospective clients ready and waiting.
But the reality is that few consumers who pay for medical billing opportunities find clients or make any money, let alone earn the promised substantial income. The software consists of various forms and letters; anyone could design.
Competition in the medical billing market is fierce, especially for those who are new to it. Many doctors' offices process their own medical claims. Doctors who contract
out their medical billing often use established firms, not individuals working from home.
The end result is you lose the total amount invested!
Home Product Assembly
This scam can be very depressing for many work at home moms. The advert will claim that anyone can easily assemble various products using a few simple tools that you probably already have at home, and when you submit the assembled product you will be paid immediately.
When you apply to the company, you receive a booklet or pamphlet that has a description of the finished product. Once the items are finished (as many as you can produce) you return them to the company and you will be paid a certain amount for each item assembled. Once again this all sounds fairly straightforward doesn't it.
Well here is the scam side of it all.
After paying for your assembly package, you will receive your instructions for assembly; you will be informed that all materials for the project will have to be purchased from the actual company involved (this is to ensure that the 'correct quality' of material is used). In most cases the materials could have been purchased a lot cheaper elsewhere. So to start with you have already paid money to the company and are out of pocket. Then after submitting the finished product for payment, you receive a letter (not containing a cheque!) and this letter informs you that your finished products have been rejected for being sub-standard due to some ludicrous reason or other.
Why would this happen you ask? Well the simple answer is that the products you are asked to assemble do not have any actual buyers. The only money made by this scam is by the originating company or individual selling you overpriced materials to complete your tasks. Very upsetting if you have spent many hours carefully assembling products you believe will provide you substantial income.
I have listed three common scams to affect WAHM, many others will be listed or discussed on our site
www.workathome-moneyscams.com.
Tips for Work at Home Moms on how to spot internet scams:-
1. The first line states you make $100's or $1000's per day or week.
2. The initial ad uses lots of capital letters and exclamation marks.
3. They say 'no experience is needed'
4. Only working a few hours per week (even in your pyjamas!) guarantees easy cash.
5. The ads will make out that you need to join immediately and places are limited, or a special offer is on.
6. You are always asked to send a fee up-front for some item e.g. Enrolment fee, start up package etc.
7. If it sounds too good to be true, then it most probably is.
8. If the company in question uses free hosting- any legitimate company will have its own domain.
If you are a mom wanting to work from home please do not despair because opportunities are out there. Keep an eye on our website and do your homework before you commit any money to any advertised internet home business opportunity.
About The Author
Andrew Murrayfield owns and operates the following site dedicated to scams, home business scams and ways to make money from home:-
www.WorkAtHome-MoneyScams.com
