Being Smart and Safe While Working From Home

If you’re interested in working from home, you’re in luck. Thanks to modern technology, it’s never been easier for people to work remotely, whether they work for a company or decide to freelance. It can be a very rewarding experience for those of us who don’t necessarily want to have to commute to a nine to five job every single day. But like anything, it has its pratfalls. Remote or freelance workers, like many small business owners, often find that they’re especially prone to being targeted by scams. Here’s how to identify whether a work-from-home related opportunity is a scam or not.

The Obvious Red Flags

There’s an adage you’ll want to remember when it comes to working from home. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Whether you freelance or are interested in applying for a remote position, be very mindful about what job opportunities you accept or even attempt to apply for.

In general, if a job promises you can make a very high amount of money for little effort and requires little to no experience, be wary. Most of the time, these are obvious scams. Also be sure that a job listing or classified ad is specific about what the job entails. If you email or call via the contact info they have provided and they tell you that the details of the job are a lot different than what was promised or advertised, this is a very, very obvious red flag. Always pay attention to misleading job listings.

Any job that requires you to pay money or use a credit card in order to access the application or even begin the job is almost always a scam. You should never have to pay money in order to work. Your employer should be paying you for the work you do. Avoid these postings.

Playing Safe

In general, do your homework about any work from home offer you receive. Always conduct searches on contact information you’re given in order to verify whether you’re receiving job offers from a legitimate company or individual.

For example, you can conduct what is known as a reverse cell phone number lookup. A reverse cell phone number lookup search allows you to find publicly available information out there about the company. If information you uncover through a reverse phone cell number lookup doesn’t match up with information that the company you’re applying with has given you, be on high alert.

Also conduct searches for the name of the company through sites like the Better Business Bureau or Indeed. If you can’t find anything or if you hear bad things about the company, such as suspicious activity or poor business behavior, this is a definite red flag and you may want to watch out before you proceed further.

Never give out personal information if you’re not sure about the company. This applies to your address, your social security number, and so on. Some supposed work from home opportunities are merely fronts to steal personal information in order for them to sell your identity on the black market.

Always be skeptical of any opportunity that sounds too good to be true or any company you can’t find information about online. If you have good reason to be suspicious or the company is doing things like asking for credit card information, file a report with the Federal Trade Commission or your local police department. After all, it’s one thing to refuse to apply to a scammy sounding company. But you may as well do your part to ensure they can’t potentially scam another remote worker like yourself.