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Close the door to work-at-home scams

The ads make it sound like an e asy way to supplement your income, but if it sounds too good to be true. . .

By JANET CROZIER, Special to the Times
Published October 31, 2006

Seniors with limited incomes may consider work-at-home offers a convenient way to make extra money, but most of these offers are deceptive schemes.

Typical come-ons have headlines such as: "Work minutes a day at home and earn enough to pay all your bills."

Or "Work part-time in your own home and make $500 to $1,000 your first month!'

Con artists pitching such schemes rake in uncounted millions of dollars a year by touting such appealing come-ons to lure victims who pay "start-up fees" in the hopes of hitting it big financially. Work-at-home schemes seldom include information such as what the business or its product might be, how the new operators would contact possible customers, or what the total costs might be.

The promotions are typically pasted on telephone poles or pinned to supermarket bulletin boards, appear in newspaper classified sections, magazines, on television and more recently, on Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards.

Because anyone can post to these online message boards, the promotions can even show up on boards run by honest organizations that seniors trust, such as AARP.

Work-at-home schemes come in many forms. Some of the most common scams include:

Medical Billing Centers: The victims send money for software to run a bill-collection service from their home, with clients purportedly "lined up" for the investors. In reality, the software often is only an assortment of forms and collection letters that anyone could create. And the names of potential client companies are often randomly selected from the phone book.

Envelope stuffing: This is the most common work-at-home scam, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The victims send money so that the "business" will send them information about earning money by stuffing envelopes. What they actually get are instructions to sell this scheme to others, by placing ads in newspapers to illegally entice new victims. They make nothing unless they recruit others to work for them.

Called multilevel marketing, this scam is much like the old, and illegal, Ponzi pyramid scheme.

Assembly or craft work: This is promoted as an easy job for seniors on a fixed income. All they have to do is send money for supplies to assemble into products such as aprons, baby clothes, jewelry and Christmas decorations. They are told that there is a ready market for the products, or even that the company will buy the products from them.

However, the assembled items rarely meet non-existent "quality standards," or the victims are told that they are responsible for selling the items themselves.

The best way to protect yourself against such work-at-home scams is to stay alert and use common sense. Remember the axiom: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Janet Crozier has more than 30 years' experience working with older adults and is a senior educator with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, which provided this article.

FAST FACTS

Protect yourself

For more information on work-at-home scams, contact:

- U.S. Postal Inspection Service, through your local postmaster or nearest Postal Inspector; contact information is in the front of your phone book, in the government pages listings.

- National Fraud Information Center. This agency shares complaints with law enforcement offices across the country. Go to www.fraud.org or call toll-free 1-800-876-7060 during business hours weekdays.

- Federal Trade Commission. Though the FTC does not resolve individual consumer problems, your complaint helps the FTC investigate fraud. The online complaint form is at ftc.gov; click on "Consumers" at left, then "File a complaint."

- Better Business Bureau. This agency tracks complaints against businesses and explains how work-at-home schemes can waste your time and money and ruin your reputation. Go to www.bbb.org or find the local bureau in the phone book.

Ask these questions first

Do not send any money until you get clear and complete answers - in writing - to all these questions:

- What exactly do I need to do to earn money?

- Do I have to purchase anything? If so, what will I receive for my money?

- What is the total cost to get in on the deal?

- What quality standards must I meet for the products I produce?

- Will I receive a salary? Or do I work on commission? Who pays me?

- Do I need to recruit others to the program?

- How do I get my money back if I am not satisfied?

If the answers you receive from those selling the information or items don't satisfy all your concerns, walk away. Chances are good that the "sales opportunity" is really a scam.

[Last modified October 30, 2006, 19:38:22]