Protect Yourself from Remote Work Scams

Michelle Wilson - August 28, 2020

Remote work is extremely appealing, especially now. During the pandemic, 88% of employees are working from home on a regular basis, and before that, this figure was only 31%. However, before COVID-19, remote work was a trend that was already happening. Having a flexible, safe job that gives you a great work-life balance is key to keeping your stress levels in check.

That being said, working from home isn’t always filled with positives. There are some companies that get you to work for them, and never pay you. There are also some who can potentially steal your personal information, just by you willingly filling out normal onboarding paperwork.

What Exactly are Remote Work Scams?

When money is tight, a work-at-home opportunity might sound like just the thing to make ends meet. These scams look just like normal job opportunities but are in fact just a way for criminals to exploit your hard work or steal your information.

Other work-at-home offers simply don’t deliver on their guarantees. The advertisements don’t reveal to you that you may need to work a great deal of hours without pay, or don’t unveil all the expenses in advance. You may go through your own personal funds on false promises that you will rapidly acquire it back — yet you don’t. Individuals deceived by work-at-home advertisements have lost a huge number of dollars, also their time and vitality.

It’s important to follow your gut feeling and know the clear-cut signs that a work-from-home opportunity isn’t on the up-and-up. Let’s explore some common work-from-home scams.

Common Remote Work Scams

There are a ton of remote work opportunities available so it can be hard to spot the difference, especially when you’re looking for something when you’re in a jam.

• Medical Billing

  • Now, medical billing is a real and legitimate career, but it is actually never done remotely. Scammers can collect a ton of money from you saying it’s for software and equipment that they will send you to get started. And after that, they won’t tell you that the list of clients they give you is likely false information.

• Envelope Stuffing

  • For a small fee, the ad says, you’ll make lots of money stuffing envelopes. Seems simple enough right? But after you pay, you discover there is no work. Rather, you get a letter instructing you to get others to purchase a similar envelope-stuffing opportunity or some other product. You earn money only if those people respond the same way you did.

• Internet Business

  • This one really seems like a dream come true. You can make thousands of dollars a month and the business will be 100% yours. The catch? They say no experience is necessary because they have expert coaches to get you ready, but you have to act fast and pay right away. The “expert training” often comes with additional prices and fees. More often than not, the scammers are just looking for lump sums up-front and your credit card information.

• Mystery Shopping

  • We have all seen adds for this, and it seems like it could be a really fun opportunity, if only it were actually real. Some of these mystery shopping scams charge for a fake certification that is completely bogus. Others are running fake check scams — they ask you to deposit checks and wire some of the money back. Then you find that the check is fake and are on the hook for the full amount. You should never have to pay to get into the mystery shopping business.

• Survey Schemes

  • As much as we’d like to think out opinion matters, it really doesn’t. These work much like the other scams in asking you to pay an upfront fee to get access to higher paying surveys. If a company really wanted your opinion, they would be paying you, not the other way around.

• MLM Marketing

  • MLM stands for multi-level marketing. Some of these can be legitimate opportunities, so it may be tough to differentiate. The best way to tell is that a real MLM allows you to make commission on the sales of their product. If anyone suggests recruiting is the real way to make money, know this: MLMs that survive on recruiting new participants rather than retail sales are pyramid schemes, and those are illegal.

Fastest Way to Recognize and Avoid These Scams

Here are just some of the signs to look for that should make you think twice:

• Get rich quick promises
• They ask for money upfront
• You don’t speak with or see a real person
• They use a generic e-mail account, like gmail, aol, yahoo..etc.
• The job description lacks detail
• There is little to no information about the company
• High pay for super simple tasks

Conclusion

Now this is not to scare you way from looking for remote work opportunities, we just want you to be prepared. Always go through legitimate sites like Remote.co, Indeed.com, FlexJobs, or a recruiting agency. You will run into many of these scams through craigslist or local classified ads.

Remember, as with any job, do your research. Check to see if they have a website, employee reviews, and do reverse phone and email searches to make sure they’re legit.