The world is full of people who feel they can take advantage of others to
obtain their goals in life. Fraud, Deceit & Scams happen in the real world
every day. Just tune into your local news to hear about them. But, Fraud,
Deceit & Scams also happen in the virtual world as well. And,
unfortunately they often hit those who can lease afford the losses.
Online we are always inundated with "get rich quick schemes" and
their claims of "overnight success". If you're like me you find this
kind of s.p.a.m clogging up your email box on a daily bases. They tell us how
easy it is. How we can just sit back and relax, do nothing all day long and
still make a roll full of money. Hell, we might as well go golfing because
we'll be making money hand over fist while on the golf course. :-| Now while
sitting back and watching the money roll in would definitely be nice, reality
is, rarely does any get rich quick scheme ever work. The promises of millions
never pan out no matter how hard you try.
The problem here is that so many people want and need to make more money. And
they want to make that money as quickly as they can. So they believe, or hope
that what the scammer is telling them will be true. But understand this, even
the greatest, largest companies in the world took time and work to build.
Martha Stewart for example will tell you that she started her business in the
basement of her house. And look where that business is today. A multi billion
dollar a year corporation. While we all can't be Martha Stewart or Donald
Trump or Hugh Heffner we can have our own successful home based business if we
just stay away from the scams.
So, how do we spot the scams? Well, if you are serious about operating your
own home based business there are things you can watch out for. Sort of the
red flags of the business opportunity world. Let's have a look at some now.
- Charging you for information about their business opportunity. It's pretty
plain and simple. A so called business opportunity tells you all you have to
do is go to your mail box pick up the checks and cash them, but first you must
send them a check to get the information on how this is done. I'm of the
thinking that your check is going to be the only check getting cashed here.
This type of ad appears all over the internet. But if their business
opportunity is so good why must you pay to find out what it is. Would it not
make more sense to give you that information for free so they could get you
interested in their product. I would think so! And unfortunately many people
get scammed into sending these frauds the money they ask for. Then if they
receive the information they paid for they will often find it pretty much
useless and often they are require to send more money for more information.
Stay away from these types of ads, they will not get you a successful home
based business!
- They want to charge you a fee to sell their products.
O.K., I've got to ask - What's up with that?! If their product is so great
won't you be selling them like crazy? Won't you be making money for not only
yourself but for the company as well? Don't pay to sell someone else's
products.
- They offer you free products.
Ever see these ads where you are entitled to a free (what ever) only to
discover you'll need to purchase something first. ie: Sign up today and get
(what ever) for FREE! Of course what they don't tell you is you'll have to
purchase a sample package first in order to get the freebie.
- Fly by nights
Fly by night companies that pop up and take peoples money operate both offline
and online. Very often they disappear without warning. So to keep yourself
safe from these frauds ask yourself the following questions. Is this an
established company? How long have they been in business? Do they have an
actual street address or only a P.O. Box? Or worse, no address and no way to
contact them at all? Do they use only an auto responder or do they have an
email where you can get in touch with a real person?
I know that all these points seem like common sense. But why then, do so many
people ignore them. That is why these scammers can exist. As explained in my
book "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" when looking for your
perfect home based business it is important to look for a company that only
gives you the straight goods. No promises of exorbitant amounts of money
falling from the sky into your lap without you doing a thing to make it
happen. And, they should not be charging you for any information on their
business opportunity it should be laid out for you. Use your own common sense,
if something looks to good to be true, then it probably is to good to be true.
Best of Luck!
Joe Clare
About the author:
Joe Clare is an active Netpreneur and eBayer! He is the author of numerous
articles on how to make money online and be successful on eBay! Check out his
latest Best Selling eBook "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" Your
Passport to Success! at http://www.ebooksnsoftware.com
