Many consumers who need extra money find it impossible to
hold even a part-time job outside their home because of family
obligations or health considerations. These people often
are attracted to classified ads in the newspaper or in magazines
or direct mail solicitations which offer them a chance to
earn money by doing work at home.
Work at home opportunities are quite frequently schemes
which take advantage of low income or handicapped persons.
These schemes all have one thing in common: you must buy
something before you can begin work.
If you answer an ad that offers profits for a work at home
project for which there is a great demand, but which requires
no experience, chances are you will end up losing money instead
of making any.
A typical advertisement for a work at home opportunity claimed "$356,000
Weekly Guaranteed. Work two hours daily at home." Investigation
disclosed, however, that the "guarantee" did not
apply to the earnings, but only to a refund of the $15.00
paid for how-to details if the worker’s own efforts
failed to produce the weekly income.
Another typical ad promised "$1,000 to $3,000 monthly
stuffing envelopes." BBB shoppers answering such ads
did not receive the expected envelopes for stuffing, but
instead got promotional material which asked for a payment
of $8.00 to $25.00 to obtain details on money-making plans.
To make matters worse, to pursue the plans would have required
spending several hundred dollars more for advertising, postage,
envelopes and printing.
It is not difficult to see that this system is one which
feeds on continuous recruitment of persons to offer the same
plan. By such a geometric progression, soon everyone in the
country would be trying to sell envelope stuffing plans in
true pyramid fashion.
According to the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service, "In
practically all businesses, envelope stuffing has become
a highly mechanized operation using sophisticated mass mailing
techniques and equipment which eliminates any profit potential
for an individual doing this type of work at home. The Inspection
Service knows of no work at home promotion that ever produces
income as alleged." In a 12 month period, the Postal
Inspection Service reported it has put about 3,500 of these
work at home operations out of business through mail stop
orders, consent agreements, or criminal proceedings.
ASSEMBLY WORK AT HOME!! Earn $600 monthly.
Easy money.
HOME SEWING. Make interesting and beautiful
items for others to enjoy.
In these schemes, you must invest hundreds of dollars in
instructions and materials and many hours of your time to
produce items for a company that has promised to buy them.
These offers include making baby booties, aprons, plastic
signs, and toy clowns, to name just a few. However, once
you have purchased the supplies and done the work, the company
may decide not to pay you because the work you send back
does not meet certain "standards." You are left
with the equipment and the supplies, and you must find customers
for the items you have already made.
"We pay you $5.00 per thousand-gliding
greeting cards; good opportunity for beginners;
no experience necessary. No selling!"
Those interested in an assembly work-at-home business should
find out what fees are involved and weigh this against the
amount of money they can expect to earn. BBB experience has
shown that earnings claims by many work at home promoters
are often false or highly exaggerated. Many companies require
advance money for information, instruction booklets or brochures
related to setting up a work at home business. Also find
out if you are required to sell the finished items yourself,
or if they will be purchased by the company. Find out what
the company’s "standards" are - you may be
told that your work does not meet these standards and you
will not be paid.
"RAISE CHINCHILLAS AS A HOBBY.
Fabulous profits. Small space in your basement, garage,
or extra room is all you need."
"$300 - $700 monthly to raise rabbits.
Lab animals. We supply…….."
Successful small animal breeding is not for hobbyists. It
is a very technical field which requires considerable knowledge
and expertise and, frequently, a sizable initial investment.
Persons who respond to such ads may find themselves with
animals or pelts that cannot be sold at any price - much
less the profits they were led to expect. The pay-off for
the promoter of this scheme is to sell at inflated prices
to persons who have no understanding of the small animal
market.
Remember this - if you have to "buy" anything
to get work to be done at home, be on your guard. It may
only be a plan to "sell" you something. Firms offering
salaried home employment do not advertise. They can get more
workers than they need by word of mouth advertising.
"Received $9.80 for his 15 cent
local newspaper. Clip news items from your local newspapers,
worth $1 - $5 each."
"Women - Do homework in spare
time. All kinds of pleasant profitable work."
Ads like these do not offer home work but "ideas" for
setting up a home business. The most common suggestions are
for setting up a mail order business or an at-home local
newspaper clipping bureau.
INVESTIGATE BEFORE YOU INVEST
There is no substitute for closely examining any offer which
promises or guarantees income from work-at-home programs.
If it sounds too good to be true, chances are that it is.
Consider it a warning sign if a worker must buy something
in order to start the program. Those interested also should
take into consideration that by becoming involved in a work-at-home
scheme, they might well be perpetrating a fraud by selling
the program to others, and risk investigation by federal,
state and local authorities.
Contact Us
Consumer Protection Division
501-682-2341
800-482-8982 (statewide)
501-682-8118 (fax)
consumer@ag.state.ar.us
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