A Tool Kit for Avoiding Work-From-Home Scams

Work-from-home scams are illegitimate offers of employment created to mislead remote workers and commit different types of fraud. Typically, these scams occur on the internet and target people who are actively looking for home-based work. The majority of these activities are aimed at stealing money or identities of professionals.

There are several types of work-from-home scams that occur, such as:

• Scams that ask you to recruit other workers before working.
• Scams that ask you to pay the scammer before earning anything.
• Scams that ask you to make a purchase of something the scammer is selling.
• Scams that request a fee for training before you start work.
• Scams that ask you to pay a fee to get work from the scammer.

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Here are several methods you can use to avoid work-from-home scams:

Investigate an employer’s recruitment process

Legitimate employers have developed a recruitment process which candidates must follow. Typically, this process will last from a week to several months. In contrast, a fraudulent individual who heedlessly pretends to be a job provider is likely to offer work without a properly designed selection process. For example, a work-from-home scam will probably “hire” you without conducting any assessment activities. To get a real remote job, you will be required to do at least one of the following:

• Submit a work sample. You will have to send a sample of your previous work or complete a job-specific task according to a prompt provided by the employer.
• Take a test. Some companies require workers to take a test to prove their abilities to perform job duties. For example, you could be tested on a job-specific hard skill or on your knowledge of company policies.
• Send in your resume. Traditional companies require your resume, which includes a detailed description of your education, skills, and work experience.
• Attend one or several interviews. As a remote worker, you will be asked to interview with a representative of the company via phone or video as a final step in the selection process.

Consequently, one method for identifying whether a company is legitimately offering remote work is assessing its recruitment process.

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Learn about the employer

Learning about the employer is a savvy technique for spotting work-from-home scams. Unlike a real employer, a fake one is unlikely to have invested in developing things like a corporate website, social media presence, and a record of employee testimonials. Subsequently, when considering a remote job with an unfamiliar company, research all these areas.

However, some expert fraudsters go the extra mile, setting up fraudulent websites and writing fake employee testimonials. Therefore, it’s best to use this method in combination with others.

Assess whether you’re being offered too much money

Work-from-home scams tend to offer too much money. You can use these unrealistic financial offers to identify them as being fraudulent. As a remote worker, you’re likely to be aware of how your industry usually prices your services. If you’re starting your career as a work-from-home professional, you can gauge how much you should be paid by doing an online search for similar jobs and finding the average rate. Armed with this information, you can differentiate genuine opportunities for home-based work from work-from-home scams. Here is a checklist of questions you can use to spot scams that offer unrealistic financial incentives:

• Are you being offered a salary that is higher than average?
• Are you being offered an up-front payment?
• Are you being offered large bonuses that legitimate companies do not offer?

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Assess the employer’s brand image

Search for reviews written by people who have researched or experienced the company in reputed career guidance websites, job boards, or employee websites. Companies that offer legitimate employment to remote workers generally have several positive reviews and ratings on trustworthy online resources for home-based professionals. For example, check the employer’s brand image on the Better Business Bureau. A work-from-home scam is likely to have negative reviews, which warn workers not to apply, and low ratings.

However, when you’re trying to spot a scam, this technique should always be used with several others instead of on its own. Keep in mind that disgruntled employees do write negative reviews that do not accurately reflect genuine employers. Additionally, some work-from-home scams place fake reviews on the internet and post jobs on reputed job sites in an attempt to portray themselves as legitimate concerns.

Assess the employer’s interest in hiring you

While a legitimate employer will be interested in hiring you after a period has elapsed upon receiving your job application, an illegitimate one will want to hire you immediately and will be overly eager to do so. When you receive a job offer, use the following checklist to determine whether the employer’s interest is rational:

• Did the employer ask you to send your resume, pass an online exam, or send a work sample before sending the job offer?
• Did at least a week elapse between the day you made your job application and the day you received the offer?
• How many emails did the employer send indicating your acceptance?
• Did the employer offer you a job that you did not apply for?
• Is the employer pressuring you to accept their offer?

Genuine employers will avoid responding to your application right away and require you to prove your qualifications in some way before sending a job offer. Additionally, they will send a maximum of two or three emails indicating your job offer. If you fail to respond in a timely manner, you will not hear from them in the future. In contrast, work-from-home scams are likely to bombard you with job offer emails and try to pressurize you into accepting their imaginary job offer.

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Check the employer’s written communication

Use your proofreading skills to check what the employer has written in their first email. A genuine employer invests in editing their correspondence during the recruitment process because they understand the importance of maintaining their brand image among professionals. In contrast, a work-from-home scam is likely to send job seekers emails with several writing errors. Consequently, if you receive a response to a job application with several spelling or grammar mistakes, the sender is probably operating a scam.

Investigate the employer’s email address

A real employment provider invests in getting a display name and an email address with their company name. In contrast, a work-from-home scam usually uses a generic email provider. Check the email domain of any correspondence you receive to find out if it’s a scam. This domain is the item in an email address that is included after the @ symbol. You can find this address in the “From” field of your email header.

The display name and email address of a genuine company will look like this in the email header: Company Name<The email sender’s department name@the company name.com>

However, email spoofing can alter both the display name and the email address, allowing work-from-home scammers to misuse the company names and email addresses of genuine employers. Subsequently, always use this technique with others to identify a scam.

Determine if the employer wants you to open an attachment

A genuine company will not require you to open any attachments or download any software during the initial stage of your employment. Authentic providers of remote work have invested in building a computer infrastructure you can conveniently access and perform your tasks in. All you need is your computer and an internet connection for genuine remote work.

Subsequently, if any of the initial emails you receive from an unverified organization require you to open an attachment or download an application, it’s likely to be a work-from-home scam.

Assess requests for your private information

A genuine work-at-home employment provider will not request your private information, such as your Social Security number and banking details, before you start working. In contrast, a work-from-home scam will ask for this or similar information in their initial correspondence.

Work-from-home scams abound, but so do techniques to spot them. When you encounter one, don’t be discouraged. There are excellent employment opportunities for remote workers on the internet. Use this tool kit of verification techniques to find them and start working.