Don t Be Bamboozled

I l @ ve RuBoard

Don't Be Bamboozled

You may have lost your job but you haven't lost your mind. No matter how stressed or anxious you feel, you need to keep your wits about you. Plenty of people have been coaxed down the path that looks too good to be true and lost their life savings. Working four jobs is better than becoming involved in any of the following schemes.

According to the National Fraud Information Center, work-at-home business scams are the #1 source of fraud in the country.

Free Information

Ask yourself, why would someone work so hard just to give you something for free? Is that how they stay in business, by giving away free information? The free information they want to send you would make a better liner in your son's hamster cage. The real information that you want is going to cost you. See the hook?

Starter Kits

Think about this for a moment ”a starter kit that you buy on television or at a job fair for $29.95 is going to reveal all the secrets of the industry and make you a successful business person? If anything could be learned from a starter kit, then why would anyone go to school? The bottom line is that there is nothing in these starter kits that can't be found for free at the public library, on the Internet, or by doing some homework. Another tempting starter kit is the one that contains the materials for you to make your own Christmas ornaments or cat collars. What you usually receive is a box filled with beads along with some undecipherable instructions.

"900" Numbers

This may be one of the best scams around. For a limited time and for just $1.99 a minute, you can speak to one of their experts about how to buy homes in foreclosure or sell ice to Eskimos. The minute you dial the 900 number, you are getting billed. Often the lines are busy and you're put on hold for 10 or 20 minutes or more. All the while the charges are adding up at the 900 number rate. The expert? He or she is probably sitting in a condo somewhere in Hoboken, New Jersey, along with 10 other people, and reading off information from a script.

The Flyers Tucked on Your Windshield

You come out of the supermarket and there's this colorful flyer jammed under your windshield wiper. It says, "Earn big money working from home, no experience necessary." The reality is most likely that someone is trying to lure you into working for a 900 number, joining a pyramid scheme, or becoming a one-person sweat shop.

Pyramid Schemes

These are typically scams set up to look like real businesses that require you to recruit other people to join the pyramid ”for a fee. Pyramid schemes are illegal in most states because there is no product or service being sold. The only people who are making any money are the ones who created the pyramid. Eventually the scheme collapses and everyone on the lower tiers of the pyramid is out his or her investment.

Multilevel Marketing

Multilevel marketing (MLM), also known as network marketing, can resemble a pyramid because to make money you have to sell products and recruit others under you to do the same. A MLM often asks for an initial investment that includes products and sales materials. There are several highly successful and well-known multilevel companies such as Amway, Avon, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and Tupperware that are legitimate .

A red flag should go up if the multilevel company is more interested in recruiting than in selling products. In that case, the MLM could actually be a pyramid scheme.

Glowing Testimonials

Have you ever watched late night television? Then you may have seen those infomercials in which person after person gleefully swears that they've become financially independent by joining this company or taking these seminars . Usually the person is in south Florida cruising down the Intracoastal Waterway on a yacht. Do yourself a favor ”either change the channel or go to sleep.

If these opportunities sound too good to be true, they are. Unfortunately, many people get scammed every day because they were bamboozled by phony ads and get-rich-quick schemes. Before you invest in something that sounds fast and easy, do your homework and check it out thoroughly.

I l @ ve RuBoard


The 60-Second Commute. A Guide to Your 24.7 Home Office Life
The 60-Second Commute: A Guide to Your 24/7 Home Office Life
ISBN: 013130321X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 155

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