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Work-From-Home Scams


Beware of Job Offer Scams

Identifying work-from-home scams can be tricky, especially as they often appear alongside legitimate opportunities on popular job-search websites. And if you’re a retiree looking to supplement your Social Security or a worker left reeling by the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be awfully tempting to follow those leads. Who wouldn’t like to earn big money stuffing envelopes or posting online ads from the comfort of your couch or get all the tools and training needed to start a lucrative home-based business?

Few of these offers ever lead to actual income. Instead, they’re liable to leave you with a lighter bank account or even heavily in debt.

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Federal officials raised alarms about such scams spiking during the pandemic as millions of people who lost jobs searched for new employment. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 104,000 consumer complaints about sham job and business opportunities in 2021, nearly three times the number reported in pre-COVID 2019.

The median loss in those cases was $1,991, among the highest for fraud categories tracked by the FTC. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says employment frauds pose the second-highest scam risk for veterans and military families

Typical ploys invite you to get to work stuffing envelopes, processing billing forms for medical offices, filling out online surveys, doing typing or data entry, or assembling crafts. The common thread is that you’ll be asked to pay something upfront for supplies, certifications, coaching or client leads — or sent a check to cover such expenses, which turns out to be bogus.

In return you may get a load of useless information, or nothing at all, or a demand that you place more ads to recruit more people into the scheme.

The BBB issued a warning in April 2022 about a new twist on this con, with supposed job recruiters offering targets an interview if they download a messaging app such as Telegram. After answering a few questions on the app, you get an offer, a contract, and a request for your personal data and banking information. 

More involved cons promise to set you up in an online business — again, for a price, which can rapidly escalate into the thousands of dollars as one paid “training program” leads to another. One such operation, a Malaysian company called My Online Business Education, agreed in February 2020 to pay more than $17 million to settle claims that it defrauded thousands of would-be entrepreneurs with costly business-coaching programs before being busted by the FTC.

There are genuine work-from-home jobs out there. The trick is knowing how to spot the real opportunities in a sea of empty — and costly — promises.

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Have you seen this scam?

  • Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 or report it with the AARP Scam Tracking Map.  
  • Get Watchdog Alerts for tips on avoiding such scams.

Warning Signs

  • A job ad claims that no skills or experience are required.
  • It offers high pay for little or no work.
  • A company promises that a business opportunity is surefire and will pay off quickly and easily.
  • You're required to pay upfront for training, certifications, directories or materials, or sent a check that will supposedly cover such expenses.

How to protect yourself from this scam

  • Do check out the company offering the job with your state consumer protection agency, and with the Better Business Bureau in your community and the area where the company is located.
  • Do learn about the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule, which requires companies to disclose key information about business opportunities they are selling, to provide references and to back up claims about how much you can earn.
  • Do ask detailed questions, such as these that the FTC recommends:
    • How will I be paid? By salary or by commission?
    • Who will pay me, and when will the checks start?
    • What is the total cost of the program, and what will I get for my money?
  • Do check that job sites specializing in remote work screen the openings and companies listed.
  • Don’t assume a work-at-home offer is on the level because you saw it in a trusted newspaper or on a legitimate job website. It could still be a scam. If you spot a suspicious listing, report it to the publication or site.
  • Don’t believe website testimonials. Fake work-at-home sites are full of personal stories of people (often struggling single moms) making thousands of dollars a month because they took advantage of this amazing opportunity.
  • Don’t sign a contract or make a payment without doing homework about the company making the offer.
  • Don’t stick around if there’s any suggestion that your earnings are based primarily on recruiting other people to join the operation — it’s probably a pyramid scheme.
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More Resources

  • If you believe you have been exploited by a work-at-home job scam, you can file a complaint with the FTC online or by calling 877-382-4357. You can also report the scam to your state's attorney general.
  • The Better Business Bureau can tell you if it has received complaints about a particular work-at-home program (although a lack of complaints doesn’t guarantee it’s not a scam).

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Have you seen this scam?

  • Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 or report it with the AARP Scam Tracking Map.  
  • Get Watchdog Alerts for tips on avoiding such scams.