Quite a few of our members at Code4Gold Forums are Work at Home Moms (or Dads) and even though there are many businesses who offer opportunities for this ever increasing demographic, there are rampant scams and ripoffs just waiting to con these honest people out of their hard earned money. As the admin of the forum, I am occasionally asked by one of my members to check out an opportunity and give my opinion on it’s legitimacy, and if it would be worth the time and effort for the member to get involved in a particular program.

In an effort to culminate some of the tips I’ve given along the way, in one easy to find place, I’ll share with the readers here some of the things to be wary of when even thinking about participating in any of these Work at Home opportunities. Here is my basic checklist for anybody seeking advice on how to judge if an opportunity is right for you.

Checklist for Work at Home Business Due Diligence

#1) First and foremost, if it seems too good to be true, it is generally a scam. Don’t let anybody make you believe that you can make big profits easily. Operating a home based business is just like any other business, it requires hard work, skill, a good product or service, and time to make a profit. If it is a product based opportunity, ask yourself “Would I buy this product” and if it is a service you are to be reselling, again, ask yourself “Would I need or want this service"e;. If your answer is “No” then that particular product or service is not for you, because if you don’t believe in it, you will have a hard time convincing others to believe in it.

#2) Know who you’re doing business with. If the company does not publish a contact address and/or a contact phone number, there usually is a reason why, and that reason is they do not want to be contacted easily. Many con artists will openly state they do not provide such information to prevent unsolicited queries or walk in’s who would only waste company time. That is a fallacy. Any real business would welcome legitimate queries and welcome input from the community in any form. This is the basis of a strong foundation for any business or opportunity, and don’t be suckered by the ones who wish to remain anonymous because somewhere down the line when they disappear with your hard earned profits, you will be left with nothing but a headache.

#3) If a company is not offering to employ you directly, only to sell you training and materials and to find customers for your work, beware of putting out large sums of money for these type of ventures. A good example of this type of scam is the infamous Don Lapre and his “Making Money Secrets” which was marketed for years on late night infomercials and provided many people with useless and outdated techniques and training that basicly amounted to a hill of beans for those who purchased his over-priced training manuals. Lapre’s now defunct companies had an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau due to unanswered complaints and a pattern of complaints concerning selling practices.

#4) Check References - This one can’t be stated strongly enough. The Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org) will contain information about any serious, legitimate comapny, including consumer complaints and a rating for the business in question. It is also important to get references from other people who are doing the work. Ask them if the company kept its promises and has made timely payments or if they have had any support issues or communications issues with the company of business offering the opportunity.

#5) Be aware of legal requirements. In order to do certain types of work, such as medical billing, you may need a license or certificate. Check with your state Attorney General’s office. A complete list of state Attorney General’s contact information is avalable at this link (http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php). It is also important to ask your local zoning board if there are any restrictions on operating a business from your home. Some types of work cannot be done at home under Federal Law. If in doubt, consult the Department of Labor’s website at (http://www.dol.gov/).

#6) Be aware of taxation requirements. Some types of opportunities may require you to file for a Taxpayer ID number and pay your own taxes. Where in most traditional jobs, the employer deducts the taxes from your paycheck, many Work at Home opportunities reuire you to file your taxes individually. If in doubt, tax information can be found at (http://www.irs.gov).

#7) Pyramid Schemes - Be very cautious about unsolicited or solocited emails offering Work at Home opportunities. Many of these type of opportunities are not only fraudulent, some of them could be pyramid schemes like the old chain letter and envelope stuffing schemes. Protect yourself by knowing exactly what it is you will be required to do to earn in any opportunity and if it seems like the opportunity is using money coming from new recruits to pay current members, beware, it’s a pyramid scheme or ponzi scheme and you could find yourself in trouble with the authorities.

Work at Home Opportunities to Avoid

Multi Level Marketing (MLM) - This type of opportunity often involves recruiting new people, and more new people, to sell the product or service and making money depends on how many people you can recruit for your downline. More often than not these type of opportunities are merely pyramid schemes.

Product or Kit Assembly - Contrary to the sales pitch, it is nearly impossible to make money assembling craft kits or any other type of kits that could be easily manufactured.

Data Entry - Most of these opportunities are just sales pitches for training manuals to and you will only waste money on the training. Most businesses offering data entry jobs will do so through reputable sources and 99% of the time they will want an office employee, not somebody working from home.

Taking Surveys - While there are actually legitimate opportunities in this particular field, beware of companies offering to sell you training materials and lead lists, because they are the ones who are profiting from you buying their product and you will never see a dime from their useless information.

Processing Claims - Again, this is one of the biggest myths in the Work at Home opportunity market. In order to get “hired” you’ll need to buy equipment, supplies, software and pay for training. Most likely you will end up with a room in your house full of a bunch of useless junk.

Stuffing Envelopes - While there are still con artists saying you can earn as much as $5 per envelope you stuff, this is a fallacy. All major companies and businesses have postage machines which stuff, sort and meter mail if they don’t outsource the work to professional mailer businesses.

Hopefully some of what has been posted here will help some of you out there with questions about Work at Home opportunities. If you have any questions, please feel free to visit Code4Gold’s forum and the Home Based Business folder and one of the helpful people there will answer your questions.