Avoid Work at Home Scams That Target Stay at Home Moms

Working from home is a fantastic way for moms to earn some extra money and still watch the children. Every woman who wants to become a Wahm has traveled down the same path. Unfortunately, that path is littered with scams and traps to take money and time from honest women looking to make money from home. With a little common sense and extra research, you can find legitimate work at home opportunities.

The first step is to search for jobs in the right places. Don’t simply click on ads to find work. Try to find helpful groups of Wahms who have successful work at home jobs to guide your search. You can try searching on message boards or finding e-mail groups for ideas of where to start your work at home job search. Many of these women can give you insight into which work at home opportunities are actually worth your time.

Keep in mind that there are no real ways to get rich quick on the Internet or by working at home. The only people who get rich are those who are scamming others. Never believe an ad or an “employer” who claims that you will get rich instantly.

There are also a few red flags to look for when you are searching for Internet jobs. You should never have to pay for work or job lists. There are plenty of free listings available that can provide tons of work at home opportunities. Companies that want to charge you for lists of jobs are just trying to get your money. The lists are often filled with dead job leads, or lists of companies that want to charge you money. Many work at home scams will also require you to pay a start-up fee or cover the cost of “necessary” training. Again, legitimate jobs will never require you to pay them any money for you to work.

Another warning sign is if the ad or website tells you to “act now.” You should always do research before joining a company and never feel pressured to make a decision right away. Many websites are set up with text that says that the offer will expire on today’s date. But if you revisit that website the next day, the ad says that the offer expires on that day.

If you are unsure about a company, do some research on the Better Business Bureau website. The BBB has files on all businesses that have had complaints filed against them. You can see what other people have to say about a particular company and be steered away from scams.

Craft assembly scams and envelope stuffing are common scams, although it is being seen less and less these days. These jobs are normally listed as mail service jobs, and then you are asked to pay for a start up kit. After you receive a start up kit, you are given instructions to place your own work at home ads. You basically just sell the start up kit to other people and become a scammer.

Another common scam today is the "home survey" business. While some of these may be legitimate, it is very difficult to make money this way. You will spend a great deal of time filling out the survey and then will be expected to sign up for several "trial offers" which will charge you if you don't cancel in time. You have to give them a credit card number which they can easily charge in the future. It can be a full-time job keeping track of all of these offers and their cancellation dates.

The best way to make money working at home is to use the skills you have. Anyone will office, administrative and business skills can use these skills to become a Virtual Assistant.

The virtual assistant business is booming right now as more and more companies are downsizing and outsourcing; a trend that is bound to continue.

There are legitimate jobs out there for Wahms, but you have to do some research on the opportunities first. If you do your research and are careful, you can successfully work from home and never be scammed.