How To Spot Common WFH Scams

 

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

Working from home is the dream of many people. Whether you want a better work/life balance, have to work around family, or just because you want to, you could potentially fall for some very convincing scams aimed at the WFH community. 

So how do you go about ensuring that a potential opportunity is a legitimate one? Here are some of the most common ones circulating at the moment. 

General guidelines for staying safe

While there are some very specific and complicated WFH scams out there. There are some general rules you should follow to keep your personal details and money safe. 

• Don’t send personal details and financial account details over the internet. 

• Don’t click on any suspicious-looking links 

• Don’t buy equipment or software upfront

• If you suspect a job listing is fake, report it to the job platform and authorities 

Red flags

All recruiters hype themselves and their jobs up, but there’s a difference between this and outright lying. If a job seems too good to be true, it is. People generally don’t make thousands per week with zero experience and only work a few hours. 

The adverts are too vague

The job listing isn’t specific. All job listings should be clear about the company you’re working for and what you’ll be doing. If it’s all detailed marketing speak, then at best it’s going to be a terrible job but most likely is a scam. 

Poor online reputation

The reviews are terrible. You should always look at reviews of a company on forums, sites like glass door, or other sites. If you’re looking at doing cashback or market research survey sites then check out sites like Clean Cut Finance and read their Swagbucks review, which shows that this is a legitimate money-making opportunity. 

Paying to work for them

You need to give them money. No job should require you to pay to do it.  If they are requesting money from you, this is a red flag and you’re never going to get it back. 

MLMs in disguise

Requiring you to recruit other people as part of your job. Unless you’re going into a role in recruitment or HR, then your job should not involve simply recruiting others. This screams MLM, which is something you should stay away from. 

The payment mistake

Most companies should pay their employees directly via bank transfer or Paypal. If a company is insisting on paying by check, be careful of this scam. You’ll likely receive a check for a lot more than you’re expecting. Rather than sending you a revised check, the company will ask you to send the amount that they’ve overpaid to them directly before you cash their check, which will invariably bounce. 

Takeaways

There are a lot of legitimate, work-from-home opportunities out there, but the popularity of this type of work makes them targets for scammers. It’s important that you stay vigilant and don’t try to take any shortcuts. Protecting your personal and financial details is very important for your safety.