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Business Scams - Don't Be Another Online
Victim!
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When people are looking to start a home
based business online they often assume that all opportunities
online are scams. This assumption causes people to avoid great
opportunities to earn excellent incomes online and change their
financial lives.
Unfortunately what these people do not
realize is that almost all of the opportunities online are
legitimate home business opportunities.
So if most of the opportunities for an
online business are legitimate why are there so many "horror"
stories of people losing money from these ventures?
There are 2 answers to this question. The
first answer is the unfortunate fact that there are a small
percentage of people out there that do design home business
scams. Those that fall victim to these scams make a lot of
noise, and thankfully so because without the noise these scam
artists would be more successful than they
are.
So if there are scams out there how do you
avoid them?
Here is a good list of ways to avoid home
based business scams
- Research the company and always check them
out with the Better Business Bureau located in their city
http://search.bbb.org/search.html.
- Review their work-at-home scheme
information at: http://www.bbb.org/library/workathome.asp
- Ask for references of people they have
worked with. Contact each person and ask about their
experiences with the company.
- Be cautious of any company that asks for
money to apply for a job.
- Be cautious of companies that require you
to sign up immediately. No honest business will be gone in a
week so sleep on your decision and go back to the site in a
week.
- Get specific information (in writing) from
the company such as how long they have been in business, where
they are located (not just a P.O. Box), how many customers they
have, what their refund policy is (read it thoroughly), how
long it takes to get paid and if there are any restrictions on
payments, etc.
- If you do invest in a business
opportunity, use your credit card instead of cash. It may be
easier to dispute the charges with your credit card company
rather than trying to get your money back from a fraudulent
company.
- Call the National Fraud Information Center
at (800) 876-7060 for information or visit their web site at:
http://www.fraud.org.
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission
www.ftc.gov, your state's Attorney
General and the National Fraud Information Center, PO Box
65868, Washington, DC 20035, (800) 876-7060. to see if the
company you are interested in has been investigated.
The second answer to why there are "horror"
stories of people being scammed is "I spent the money to sign
up and never made any money - it was a scam!"
This scenario is actually more common than
actually falling victim to an illegal operation. The reason
this one happens is for some reason people assume that any home
business opportunity online will create a huge amount of income
with no effort.
This is not the case.
The internet does allow you to start up a
business with far less capital and time than a standard brick
and mortar business. However, like any business online or
offline you will need to work the business to see results. The
good news most online home business opportunities only require
2-4 hours a day of effort to see results. Of course the more
you put into it the more results you will see.
If you are looking for to spend more time
with your family or quit your job, or just for some additional
spending money an online business can be just what you are
looking for. If you invest in an opportunity that you are sure
about and willing to put in the time to work the business find
something that you are interested in, there are unlimited
opportunities to make money online. Do what you love, and the
money will follow.
Copyright 2006 Chris Stirling
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About
The Author
Chris Stirling
is the owner of Top-Home-Business-Directory.com
his website is geared for people who are
interested in finding an online work at home
opportunity or starting a low cost or free Home
Based Business. If you would like to learn more
visit his website at: http://www.top-home-business-directory.com.
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