“It’s not always easy to distinguish fraudulent business opportunities from legitimate ones...but the FTC advises that there are certain clues that can tip you off,” according to an article titled, “Spotting Work - at - Home Scams.” The article, by NicholeD, was published, April 01, 2009, on the U.S. Government Business web site’s Business Law Advisor page.
NicholeD is a consultant for the U.S. government. Her home scam article quotes the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announcing in April, 2009, “...a new law enforcement crackdown on scammers...[who] bilk vulnerable consumers through a variety of schemes...” The FTC article quote in “Spotting Work - at - Home Scams” lists the major “over-hyped” home job scam categories:
- Promise of jobs that do not exist.
- Promoting get rich quick plans.
- Fake government grants.
- Fake debt reduction services.
Work From Home Jobs Hype
The NicholeD article states that many medical billing job ads, or internet claim processing job ads, claim that the work at home person can earn a lot of money. Her article states the FTC opinion is that persons joining the opportunity usually cannot find clients who want them to bill, and they never see a return on their investment.
The stuffing envelopes opportunity hype is a “common ploy” according to the article. What usually happens, after joining the program for a fee, is the victim finds out that there are no open job opportunities. Some promoters advertise that the victim can recruit others and earn override money, however, the persons recruited are subjected to the same outcome which is no work and loss of fees.
“Assembly/packaging scams,” according to the article, require an investment in expensive equipment. People falling for this scam are told that companies have clients who have purchased these products, or intend to purchase the products to be assembled. The article states that “after hours of assembly” the products can be rejected for not passing “quality standards,” or they are claimed to be “defective” by the company while denying assembly payment.
Home Based Business Advice
The “Spotting Work - at - Home Scams” article provides information about how to evaluate home job opportunities, and how to report scams. Legitimate home based business advice includes providing information about a variety of home business factors, and many home business advice links are on the U.S. Government Business web site home page.
Work From Home & Children Games
In 2007, Stephanie Foster created a web site blog tying together advice about working at home with home family activities. Her web site is titled, “Home with the Kids: More Time with Your Family Your Way.” Her blog contains articles about starting a home based business, and articles about child activities.
“Cook Together - Free Fun Friday” is an (undated) article on Stephanie Fosters blog providing information about the steps parents can take to make cooking with kids fun. The article page also contains a link to a free printable grocery list.
“You can make some treats a bit healthier,” advises Stephanie Foster in the “Cook Together” article. She advises steering kids to healthy eating habits in order to avoid the dangers of childhood obesity which can trigger other diseases.
Fosters site has articles about home money management, including the use of grocery coupons. A link to the "Cook Together" article is on her home page. Her site has an article (link on home page) about "Home Money Management" which advises the use of free grocery coupons along with other home savings tips.
Free child cooking games can be found on a "Daily Cooking Games" web site. The site can be accessed by typing "Daily Cooking Games" into a internet search box.
The U.S. Government Home Business site has copious links to vital information for anyone wanting to establish a home based business. The Stephanie Foster blog provides home jobs information, from a moms perspective who has a home business, and provides articles about home with the kids activities.
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