By Wendy Betterini
Working at home online would be a lot easier if it weren't for the thousands of scams that must be waded through before finding the legitimate telecommuting jobs! Still, it is not impossible to do with a little bit of patience and a whole lot of awareness and determination on the part of the job seeker.
The good news is that the majority of scams reveal their true nature within moments. For example, the moment they ask for money, a red flag should be raised. Legitimate employers simply will not demand money from their employees. Keeping this one point in mind can often be a great help to telecommuting job seekers, because they can instantly avoid schemes that cost money.
However, there are also other important considerations, like the fact that not all scammers will go after your wallet in such obvious ways. They may also try to get your social security number, bank account information, access to your Paypal account, or other sensitive information.
This can make applying for telecommuting jobs incredibly challenging because legitimate employers will also need some of this information if they decide to hire you.
So, how can you tell when you're dealing with a scammer or a legitimate employer?
The best way to find out is by doing some research online. Most often you'll be able to uncover information that will clearly show whether a company is legitimate or not.
Here are a few things you can look for:
1)First, search the company name and the word "scam" in quotations. If anyone has mentioned the company and the word "scam" together in an article, on a blog, or even in a discussion forum, most likely that result will pop up. You can also substitute the word scam for "scheme" or "fraud". If there are negative reports to be found anywhere, you'll probably get them in search results.
2)You can also check to see if there are complaint reports on the company with the Better Business Bureau at bbbonline.com, or at websites like scambusters.org and scam.com. Word gets around if people have bad experiences with a company, and this is especially true when it comes to work at home scams!
3)Check the contact information on the company website. Do they offer a street address and telephone number? Try calling the number (unless the employment ad specifically requests no phone calls) or search the business yellow pages to see if the company information matches. If you can't find any information to verify it's a real company, that might mean they are simply new – or they might be scammers posing as a real employer.
When this happens, the best course of action is to proceed, but carefully. You can still apply for the job, but be sure to remove your address and telephone number from your resume, and set up a "junk" email account in case it does end up being a scammer. Once you apply for the job, you'll be able to tell for sure if the company is real by what happens next.
Do they ask for money? Do they request sensitive information? Or do they act like other legitimate employers you've worked for before? Legitimate employers will usually request a phone interview, or at least correspond with you about your skills and experience to be sure you can handle the job. They will also give clear details about the job duties, pay scale and more.
Based on their behavior, you'll have an unmistakable sign whether you can trust them or not.
Wendy Betterini has been working successfully from home since 2003, and teaching others how to do the same since 2005. Telecommuting is fast becoming one of the hottest career choices today! If you’re ready to discover a better way to work, visit http://www.telecommuting123.com
Source:www.isnare.com |
