Working from home part time or full time is something that appeals to many mums. Whether it’s so you can earn a little extra, or to support a growing young family, you’ll be looking for something that can fit around your family’s demands.
Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people out there who play on this, setting up scams using these emotional triggers to leave mums out of pocket.
So how can you weed out the bad ones and earn money with the genuine business opportunities? Here are some tips…
Work-at-home scam radar
The first step to finding legitimate work-from-home opportunities is to search for jobs in the right places. Don’t simply click on ads that come back from a Google search and to find work. Try to find helpful groups of Wahms who have been successful work – the age old Netmums, Mumsnet and even LinkedIn have groups that you can bat ideas to and get some very (honest) feedback. Many of these women can give you some very useful insight into which work at home opportunities are actually worth your time.
Look to get rich quick and get stung
Yes, the thought of making £10,000 a month working just an hour a day seems like a real dream come true…but it will likely turn into a nightmare if you’re being promised it on a random website you’ve come across. The only people who get rich are those who are scamming others. This should one of the first things you look out for when doing your research – and if you come across it, run!
Don’t pay for anything
You should never have to pay for work or for a list of work from home job lists. There are plenty of free listings available online that can provide a good variety of opportunities. Companies that try to charge for lists of jobs are just trying to get your money. The lists are often filled with poor job leads, or they have even more lists of companies that want to charge you money, too, meaning you get stung over and over again.
Some work-at-home scams will ask you to pay a start-up fee or cover the cost of “necessary” training. Again, legitimate jobs will never require you to pay them any money for you to work, or to provide the training you need to carry out the work.
Pressure to sign up
If you’ve just read an advert and feel as though not signing that very minute will make you miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, don’t sign…run a mile! You should always do your research before joining a company and never feel pressured to make a decision right away. Many websites are written to play on your emotions and say that the offer will expire on today’s date. But if you revisit that website the next day, and the day after that, you’ll notice that the ad still says that the offer expires on that day.
There are some scams that have been around for years that should be avoided at all costs. These business scams have unfortunately been successful for the scammers, so they continue to take the money from people who are none the wiser. For example:
- Envelope stuffing – these jobs are normally listed as mail service jobs, and then you are asked to pay for a start up kit. After you receive a start up kit, you are given instructions to place your own work at home ads. You basically just sell the start up kit to other people and become a scammer…like the age-old pyramid schemes.
- Craft assembly scams – similar to envelope stuffing jobs, you’ll receive a set of crafts to complete with instructions. You generally pay for the set and then are told you will be reimbursed for the kits and also paid for their assembly. After working hard at assembling the kits and returning them, you will be told that your work is not up to their quality standards. You will be out the cost of the kits, and they will sell your crafts anyway.
These are just two examples, but there are many,many more out there. There are legitimate jobs out there for work-at-home mums but you have to do some research on the opportunities first. With a little time and careful analysis you can find a work at home job that will be rewarding and scam free.
