Scams To Watch Out For
Unfortunately, work-at-home and telecommuting scams are common. The problem is so pervasive that in 2006 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) established Project False Hopes, a federal and state law enforcement sweep that targets bogus business opportunity and work at home scams. The crackdown involved more than 100 law enforcement actions by the FTC, the Department of Justice, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and law enforcement agencies in 11 states. In four of the new FTC cases alone, consumers lost more than $30 million. “Bogus business opportunities trample on Americans’ dreams of financial independence,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. "If a business opportunity promises no risk, little effort, and big profits, it almost certainly is a scam. These scams offer only a money pit, where no matter how much time and money is invested, consumers never achieve the riches and financial freedom promised.”[23]
In a forthcoming book, Undress4Success—Make The Road Less Traveled Your Way To Work, telework researchers, Kate Lister and Tom Harnish, report that between 20% and 97% of the work-from-home and telecommuting jobs posted on the top Internet job boards represent some kind of scam."These sites are some of the most visited places on the web. They're household brands and people trust them. Yet, much of what they're peddling is pure junk," says Lister. "One of the top three job boards features 1,250 postings for a company that advises, in all capital letters,