Work From Home Choices

Many people are so anxious to make quick and easy money online that they become simple targets for scammers. The article, links, and video below will teach you how to protect yourself from work at home and home business scams.
Internet Business Scams - How to Avoid Them
By Andrew Schirmacher Jr

Internet Scams have become big money to the people who are looking to make a quick buck on the internet. Who out there hasn’t won the Irish lottery, been asked to be a representative for the widget corporation collecting money to keep Ten percent or been sent an email by your secret admirer. Three not so nice sounding characteristics will go a long way toward protecting you from internet “work at home” scam artists: cynicism, skepticism and gut instinct. Put those together with a little knowledge and add a sprinkle of common sense, and you are not likely to bit by a dirty rotten scoundrel. Here are five rules to help you avoid internet scams.

Money won’t come easy despite what they tell you. Either it isn’t money or it isn’t easy. Anybody who tells you that you will get rich sitting by your pool side sipping Pina Coladas is lying. Think about this, if it were that easy would they be advertising it to you? And if they want you to send them money (or your credit card number), they are lying. Again, why would they allow you to use their process which could potentially cut into their profits. They wouldn’t and you can take that promise to the bank.

Look for how they are making their money! What is the vendor doing for his income? If you are the source of his money, there is an excellent chance that you are being cheated. Here are a couple of meaningless or nonexistent products to be on the lookout for when looking for an internet business:

· An ebook that tells you how to make money. If the book is so great, why is it not on the New York Times Bestseller list? Not everybody who sells an ebook is trying to rip you off, but let’s look at the facts here. Anybody can write down anything and sell it on a website. They can charge as much as they want for it and they get to keep 100% of the profit-no risk and all reward. Also, are they offering you a money back guarantee? If not you should be running in the other direction. Now, I am not saying that all ebooks are scams but you should investigate before you buy.

· Anything that begins with, “I can teach you how to make money…” That goes for those seminars that promise to teach you how to make millions, too. You know the old saying applies here. Those that can do and those that can’t teach. Look at the gurus background before committing any sum of money to a training program.

Look through the hype. Sometimes it seems like those hyped up sales letters are everywhere-they’re in your mailbox, your inbox and on the websites that want to sell you a chance of a lifetime business opportunity. When you think about it, most of them are trying to get you to buy some kind of product or program. Why do they need so many bells and whistles?

Half the time, it’s to confuse you and disguise the fact that they want you to send them money but you won’t get anything in return. Here’s a test for you to try: Print the sales letter out and cross out everything that is in bold type, colored type, italicized, underscored, or large type. Next, cross out all adverbs and adjectives, so that you only have nouns and verbs left. Whatever is left is the real truth about the product. And if nothing is left, then you have your answer.

Never buy a list. Some work-at-home business opportunities give you the opportunity to buy lists of people. This is a list that they sell to you for a nominal fee. They are people who are looking for crafters, envelope stuffers, typists, free-lancers, and so on. Half the time the lists are full of dead ends, filled positions, or even fictional companies. Even when they are legitimate email address, you can find the same sources all on your own without paying a dime. Job lists are never a good idea.

Be very cautious about Multi-Level Marketing. Some multi-level-marketing businesses are legitimate, but there are many variations on a scam in the MLM world. In Fact, MLM’s are not even legal unless the money you make is from a product, not from the recruitment of other people. Before you spend your hard earned money on an MLM, have a lawyer check the contract to make absolutely certain that it’s both legitimate and legal.

Skepticism, cynicism and your gut instinct are best three weapons for avoiding internet business scams. Listen to them, and you can usually avoid getting ripped off.

I have been working on the internet for over 8 years now and exclusively from home for the last two. My main website, How To Audio Books Online provides customers with quality audio books that they can listen to while reading along, riding in cars or on their ipods while doing other tasks. New books are being added all the time with an affiliate program that can help you earn money from home.
Stop by and visit me today at http://www.HowToAudioBooksOnline.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Schirmacher_Jr
http://EzineArticles.com/?Internet-Business-Scams—-How-to-Avoid-Them&id=812429

Links - Blog articles about internet scams:

Pharming , Fake Online Degrees, 4 Rules to Avoid Being Scammed

Below is a video for using Ratings Hub to avoid being scammed.