This week I talk about Work-At-Home Scams, Don�t Be a Victim There are bona fide scams and there are work from home gigs that feel like scams. I once worked under an Avon Rep. that demanded that a certain $$$ quota was met each month. The good times were good, the bad times....

At one point it was so bad I bought so much of the product I soon had enough in my home to fill a small closet. Not to worry, my quota was being met. I stayed with the Avon Representative for a year and a half before I realized my dollar outgo was way more than my dollar intake. I finally stopped selling Avon, but it left a bad taste in my month about direct marketing. When I thought about it, and read more about the Avon Company, I realized it was not Avon, but the tyrant representative. I was able to recoup some of my money by selling some of the items at a flea market.

One of my friends who is very intelligent signed up for one of the mystery shoppers that you always see advertised. She was sent Canadian travelers checks that she was to deposit and then go purchase items, sending any change back to the company. The Canadian traveler checks bounced leaving her with a negative balance in her account as well as having bounced check fees from the bank. It turned into a huge legal debacle between her and the bank. Really it was a scam and behalf of the so-called mystery shopper company. It was just a front to get people to send in money when they thought they were working and being honest.

It is very often the smart, honest people who get caught up in these schemes, look at the Bernard Madoff mess. I do hope your friends scammers were caught and punished.

If they were, it wasn't after her incident.
Another scam that has been happening locally is a guy in Africa someplace taking pics off of the real estate sale website, claiming he owns a home, advertising to rent it cheaper than local market value because he is working inAfrica for a few years, and having people wire him the deposit money. After the wire transfer is made, the potential renters find out he doesn't own the property, and it is for sale anyway! I know this isn't a self employment scam, but i think it shows one of the big clues to be careful is anytime you are dealing beyond your nations borders. There arena local authorities to get involved, so this guy keeps doing this!