Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts

Monday, May 3, 2010

The Same Old Scams Keep Rotating


Nothing annoys me more than knowing people are still being scammed of their hard earned money. One scam I thought had dwindled away (for the most part) was the Nigerian scams. But, today I received something disguised as a comment on an article I had written requesting that I go to a particular website, provide banking information and a check would be sent to me to deposit into my account.

Why? you may wonder. There was a comment included that said I appeared friendly from my profile. While I do consider myself a friendly person, I have not met anyone in all my years that has just wanted to give me money just because. Neither am I naive.

Can you imagine what would have happened if I had sent in my personal banking information to them, or deposited a check into my account from this strange individual? What if I started writing checks based on the belief that this newfound money was in my account? I shudder to think about it. While I didn't take those steps, I know someone out there will based on the belief that their situation is different. Perhaps they are more trusting.

Remember, be careful. Various scams are in full force, more than ever. Before doing anything, check and then double check. If you are uneasy- don't do it. If it seems to good to be true-remember it is!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

If They Want Your Money, Beware!


With the economy still in a volatile state, consumers are hanging on to their purse strings tighter than ever. I, too find that I am watching my pennies a little more to stretch them further. One thing that makes me angry is when I hear about people being scammed. When I hear complaints about this occurring, I will spread the word. Recently, I have been hearing about more people networking to connect with others that are interested in starting a business or improving the one they have already established. Now, don’t get me wrong I am in no way saying networking is bad, but what is bad is when you are tricked in to spending money  you don’t need to. Several consumers contacted me stating they had connected with others online and were instructed to send a payment to be “a part of the business group.” This caused my alarm to go off immediately. For one a book or product wasn’t being purchased. A seminar wasn’t happening. This was strictly a means to be allowed to sit in. Why should you have to pay for that? There may be times when this becomes necessary, but I want you all to know that there are other free ways to connect with others in your area who maintain similiar business goals. Before you open your wallet, take a closer look at who you are networking with.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Did You Survive April Fool's Day?

On the day that so many people often get scammed, how did you make out? If you have information about a recent scam you have become aware of share that information with us. Check out these familiar businesses and the jokes they decided to play on this special day.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Earn Big Bucks Doing Medical Billing at Home? Get Out of Here!


A friend and I were talking recently as she explained to me with much excitement how she was going to earn a large weekly salary processing medical claims at her home. Of course this immediately caught my attention, because I worked in the medical insurance field for 20 years myself. This field requires specialized training. I knew processing stacks of medical claims from home with the current patient confidentiality concerns, need to potentially abstract information from medical records... there was much more to this than she had thought about.

She had purchased a package through a 1-800 number listed in the back of a magazine she had. This action sent my radar off immediately as well. Whenever money is involved, beware. I decided to give the company a call expressing interest to see what they would tell me. Here is what happened...

A sales rep went through an obviously well rehearsed speech asking me if I was eager to get started making big bucks from home. I felt like a student sitting in the stadium at the homecoming game, but I attempted to sound as cheerful as she did. For $35 dollars I was told, I could have instructions mailed to me on how to get started along with listings of physicians in my area currently hiring. Of course I didn't need the list because my girlfriend already had hers. After reassuring the representative I would think about it, as she continued to remind me this was the opportunity of a lifetime, I hung up. I began calling physician offices from the listing to inquire about work opportunities.

It turns out the list she had received was very outdated. Most of the medical offices were surprised to learn they were listed and said they were going to call the company directly, as well as file complaints with the Better Business Bureau. I gladly provided them with any information I could to help them do that. Imagine my shock when I called another office and learned the physician was deceased and had been for years!

After calling ten offices I could not find one that would hire anyone to work from home. As I already knew, most of the offices informed me they did their own in-house medical billing, while others used another well established firm to complete such tasks.

When seeking work from home opportunities if something sounds too good to be true, remember it usually is. Do not send money. If it is a genuine work at home opportunity, then let the company provide you with what you need to begin. My friend lost a little money on this business venture, but fortunately it wasn't more.

If you know about scams that are out there, warn others so they will not fall in to the same trap.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Envelope Stuffing Work From Home - Scam Or Genuine Business Opportunity?

At first glance this can seem like a really attractive opportunity for those that can't go out to work but want to make some extra cash from the comfort of their home. People or companies that offer envelope stuffing work from home often use great ad copy to entice you into the idea of making money doing this kind of work, but there are certain things you should watch out for if you want to avoid getting scammed.

Here are 10 things to look out for:

1) It's not expensive to get envelopes stuffed, so the first question you need to ask yourself is why these people or companies are offering you money to do it from home.

2) One big red flag is if they ask you to stump up cash for a starter kit of any kind. They don't tell you what it contains but they expect money in advance. Run for the hills if you see this.

3) Never send an advance payment for anything whatsoever, even if they say they can't accept you without this upfront free. It's 99% that this is a scam if they ask for any kind of upfront payment.

4) If the company says you need to refer other people and ask them for any kind of upfront fees, avoid them as this is basically a pyramid scheme whereby you only get paid when someone else has been duped into joining this so-called opportunity.

5) Any envelope stuffing work from home opportunities that require you to do any paid advertising in order to receive self-addressed, stamped envelopes in exchange for information you are offering are also best avoided. Everyone knows in these modern times that such requests for free information can be handled via e-mail or freephone numbers.

6) Avoid any such opportunities that are sales letters for the very work you have signed up for. All you would be doing is mailing out to people offering them the same kind of work you are doing but there is no real product involved in the equation.

7) Sometimes these companies or people will hook you in by offering reports on legitimate jobs working from your own home, but the real reason behind the report is to try and recruit you into envelope stuffing work from home. The reality is you are unlikely to ever see any money resulting from the work you have actually done.

8) Bogus testimonials are common in this area, but they aren't worth the paper they are written on in most instances. Even if you can contact the people that have submitted these testimonials, still remain wary as they could be in on the scheme.

9) If the company does not have a way of contacting them other than physically writing a letter to them, give them a wide berth as there's usually a good reason why you cannot contact them.

10) To get a refund you usually need to complete a certain number of orders first. Unfortunately for you it's usually an unreasonably large number.

The most legitimate way of doing envelope stuffing work from home is to set up your own direct mail business or sell a legitimate service by using this medium to solicit sales and subsequent commissions. Products can also be marketed this way.

Most envelope stuffing programs you see advertised are usually not the great opportunity they first appear.

Do you want to work from home and earn an income? Find out how you can make money online with these FREE training videos that show you how at http://www.internetmarketingcashtraining.com


Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_722286_80.html
About the Author: Dean James