Work At Home Scams
Envelope Stuffing Scams
This scam has been around for a long time. There are, no doubt many variations, but the basic theme is the same. You are promised a certain amount of money to put leaflets into envelopes. You are told that you will be guaranteed a certain number of pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelopes per week. All you have to do is put the letter/brochure/leaflet into the envelope and post it.
Of course this is easy money so you will be keen to do this if you are a single parent or elderly etc. But the catch is you have to send them money to get started. This is to cover the start-up costs or some other so-called expense incurred by the "business" you are getting into. In some cases you will get a reply containing flyers that you will be asked to use to promote another similar business.Any takers from the flyers will send you money and you will put your leaflet into the stamped addresses envelope that they sent you and post it.
Do not get involved in a scheme like this. It is illegal. There may be some legitimate work at home envelope stuffing jobs out there. But be careful as there are a lot of these scams around.
Chain Email Scams
You don't see many of these nowadays. They used to be very common. You get an email asking you to send $1 or €1 or whatever your currency is to the email addresses at the top of the page. Then you put your email address on the bottom of the list and remove the top email address. This done you send the email to five friends who will be asked to do the same. The idea is that your email address moves up the ranks and when it gets to the top of the list there will be thousands of people sending you money.
Actually, it all sounds great. But the email addresses you are sent are usually manipulated in such a way that only the scammers get the money. AND, these emails are illegal. So, if you get one ignore it or delete it. If it came from someone you know, they were probably fooled. Let them know.
Multi Level Marketing Scams
There are plenty of legitimate MLM businesses based on agents selling products or services. The structure is designed to create a marketing and sales force by compensating promoters of company products not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of other promoters they introduced to the company, creating a downline of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation. One major problem with MLMs, is when the pyramid and the downline sellers become more important than the selling of the actual product or service the business supplies. If you discover that the MLM business opportunity you are being offered emphasizes the benefits of recruiting more and more sellers below you in the pyramid, it may be considered an illegal pyramid scheme. Get out quick or better yet don't get involved in the first place or you may find yourself in court.