Military Spouse Network

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Military spouses may not always have an easy time finding or keeping a job in the frequently changing military lifestyle. A need for flexibility and high chance of relocation may leave some spouses without many options and result in a peaked interest for work-at-home offers.

Unfortunately, if a spouse decides to take this route, they must be very cautious. According to LAPD financial crime detective Robert Rebhan, approximately 98 percent of work-at-home pitches are scams.

Here are 3 scam signs to prevent you from falling victim:

Company Contact

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A person can tell a lot about a company simply by the way in which they initiate and conduct communication.

• Email Address: Be wary of a company that uses a generic free web email address such as Gmail, Yahoo!, AIM or Hotmail. Not every company that uses these is a scam, but because of how easily accessible these addresses are, scammers can create and cancel multiple accounts that cannot be tracked.

• Copy: If the wording of an email or any documents sent contains misspellings or poor grammar, you are probably not dealing with a legitimate company.

• Interview: A company is sketchy if you’re able to “start working” without any face-to-face contact for an interview.

• Ad Placement: Learning about a work-from-home job from craigslist.com can be a very risky idea. Many companies will use more reputable job sites if they choose to post online. Also, many scams place work-from-home ads on Google’s search engine ad placements.

The Sales Pitch

Work-from-home scams often make bold claims to high-paying opportunities, but Rebecca Herrera of the Better Business Bureau says that in the 25 years her office has been in existence, they have not seen a work-at-home offer that has made the profits it boasts.

Another thing to take notice of is a job that does not require any experience yet promises high income with little effort.

The Company Itself

Here are a few red flag characteristics of a company scam:

•  The company cannot be verified on any credible site
• A company is located overseas
• A company asks for personal banking information so the employee can use their own account to do business
• A fee is required to prove “serious commitment” to the offer
• Advanced payments are required for software to conduct the job
• The nature of the job follows typical scams such as envelop stuffing or rebate processing

Photo thanks to puresolitude via Flickr Creative Commons

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