Work at Home Scams

I find those who swindle and rob the poor and the desperate, the vulnerable, the widow, and the helpless disgusting. Such stories make me angry. They also make God angry. In this recession some of the unemployed are falling victim to work at home schemes that rob them of their last dollar, even as they try to find a way to support themselves and their families. Unfortunately, these stories are becoming more common as the recession lengthens.

The number one red flag warning of a potentially fraudulent scheme is any scheme that requires you to send money before starting your new at home business. These include toy assembly, jewelry assembly, envelope stuffing, Internet searches, processing rebates, Internet advertizing schemes, and most recently medical billing scams. The Federal Trade Commission always recommends avoiding pitches for these “opportunities.”

A recent example of the newest in big dollar work at home fraud was recently reported in an article from the USA Today. EDI Healthclaims Network told their victims they would help them set up a medical billing business after they paid a licensing fee" of $4,985 to $5,985. When asked for references, Healthclaims Network employees identified themselves as successful customers. When the FTC finally closed down the operation, the owners declared bankruptcy. Noel Tufele-Jones of Wichita received a restitution check in the amount of $29.00. That was all that was returned of $5,900 she invested in a nonexistent medical claims processing business. Now, pending mail fraud charges may actually put these scoundrels in prison, where they belong.

Another red flag is a promise to earn big money with little or no effort or experience. Life is not like that, but in our despair we sometimes hope for a miracle. Guarantees, implicit or explicit are often included in pitches for both fraudulent and legal moneymaking schemes. I have only known one couple who made money running a legitimate multilevel marketing business, in this case Amway. They gave it up because they came to the conclusion that while they were making as much money selling Amway as they could in a regular job, they were working as hard or harder as they would in a regular job.

Sometimes these sales pitches are nothing more than fronts for outright criminal activities. Sometimes victims are given a low cost “teaser” offer to learn more about the program, perhaps a number like $1.95. The purpose of this offer is to get a hold of your credit card number. Then, somewhere in the fine print, they mention they will charge an additional fee of $49.95 unless you cancel the offer in 30 days. They know small crimes are likely to go unreported as the cost and difficulty in making recoveries across state lines far exceed the value of the money in question. Some of these people are even worse than those mentioned in the previous example. Their innocent victims believe they are opening a home business selling various items purchases from a wholesaler. In fact they are part of a fencing operation selling items purchased with stolen credit cards.

There are legitimate work at home opportunities offered by major companies. Typically these are for home-based customer service agents. They do not require any up front fees and they do not promise big bucks for little or no work. They offer a salary to potential workers with “a clean record, a good head, moderate computer skills, and a quiet place to work.”

Remember, If it sounds too good to be true…….

Ezek. 22:29,31.

"The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice... Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads," declares the Lord GOD.

Jer. 5:28f.

"[The wicked] do not plead the cause, the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; and they do not defend the rights of the poor. Shall I not punish these people?" declares the LORD. "On such a nation as this, shall I not avenge myself?"