8 Warnings Signs for Work at Home Job Scams

CBS moneywatch did a recent article of 8 things to watch for work at home job scams.   Here are their tips

Few details: Real job postings include lots of detail about the actual job, the skills required and the title. If a job is short on requirements -- from hours and duties to the kind of skill required -- but talks repeatedly about the flexible nature of the work, consider it a red flag.  

High pay/low effort: Listen to your gut, says Durst. Is somebody really going to be offering you easy work and a flexible schedule for high pay? Promising that their "guaranteed system" will make you a mint, if you act now? Get real. Unless your skill set is in such high demand that you'd get as much or more from a brick-and-mortar position, a work-at-home opportunity isn't either.   If is sounds too goo to be true it probably is 

Burned applicants: Before applying for an online opportunity, type in the name of the company and "scam," suggests Fell. If it's one of the many bogus jobs, you'll quickly find web-based complaints. Durst also likes work-at-home forums, such as those at wahm.com and workplacelikehome.com. She suggests that anyone serious about finding good opportunities, register at these sites and just lurk in the forums to find out what other people are complaining about. "Hell hath no fury like a mom scammed," she says. "If somebody's been burned, they're going to tell you about it in no uncertain terms."   Agreed work of  mouth on these "jobs" is fast. I  will often type if company  name and scam into google and tons of stuff will come up 

Upfront cash: Real jobs pay you. You don't pay the employer. Unless you're buying a franchise (and that's another story altogether), you should not have to pay to get paid. Don't be fooled by slick claims, testimonials or "guaranteed programs" designed to make you rich. If they're asking for money in advance to get a job, they're likely to be crooks.   Dont spend your own money here there are some legit companies like LiveOps and Arise  that do a background check that do a small charge-do your home work here 

Too much information: Though most work-at-home scams seek cash payments from victims, a few appear to be going after the personal information that could make you a target of identity theft. You don't need to put your Social Security number or driver's license number on a job application. If the application asks for those identifying numbers or for a credit card number, back away.    Hold off on giving your social security number until you are fillling out a W-9 form

Anonymous emails: If you're dealing with a human resources manager at a particular company, their email address should be coming from the company's domain name, not an anonymous domain like Gmail, Yahoo or AT&T.   A real company is going to use a real email addy 

Unprofessional communication: Job postings and email communications with multiple exclamation marks, misspellings and grammatical errors are also likely to be scams.

Over payments: One of the pervasive mystery shopper scams provides big up-front checks to mystery shoppers, who are instructed to deposit the money in their own bank accounts; use what they need to buy an inexpensive product and pay themselves a fee. The mystery shopper is then told to wire the remaining funds back to the "employer." In reality, the check the scammer gave you is a forgery. But it may be a good enough fake to keep your bank guessing past the point when banking rules require that they "provisionally" provide the funds. What does that mean? It will look like the check cleared. But the bank will debit your account later if the check is a fake -- and that could happen weeks after you've spent the money. You're on the hook for the cost of the purchased products, whatever amount you refunded to the crook, as well as any overdraft fees that the fake check caused.