Every Internet user is aware of the fact that the web is flooded with advertisements for “work from home” or “make easy money” jobs. While many of these offers are phony, there are some jobs that are 100% legitimate and represent a great way for certain individuals to make rent money and maybe even more.

In an era when everything revolves around the Internet, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that jobs where you don’t have to actually go to a physical workplace do exist. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, many of the offers promising loads of money in return for a few simple tasks are fakes, designed to dupe the unsuspecting user into handing over an account registration fee, or make him perform tasks that never pay off. 

Some of these malicious scams are simply created as an alternative way for cybercriminals to steal personal information.

Personally, I’ve collaborated with three companies and I can guarantee that a lot of “work from home” jobs exist and they can earn any hard worker a decent income. On the other hand, before “landing” these jobs, I fell for a few scams and that’s why I decided to write a practical guide to teach you how to identify fake job offers.

A few people may believe that it’s easy to spot a phony offer. If it promises too much money for very simple tasks, it’s surely a fake. 

While this may be sound advice, there are other aspects that need to be taken into consideration. The first scam I was confronted with promised to pay a fairly low amount of money for typing certain texts that would be provided on paper. 

The “company” offered to send the first batch of papers through the post, but they requested around $8 (5 EUR) plus shipping taxes, amount which allegedly covered the costs of some demo materials that should have helped me get started.

When the package arrived, I opened it and found a scratched CD, some poorly copied documents that advertised a classic “make easy money” scam, and a rock (probably to make the package seem heavier).

After this incident, I learned how to identify fake “work from home” job offers and later landed a couple of editor jobs and a junior web designer position at a company in the US. I mentioned the positions because you’ll later see that these types of jobs have the highest chance to be legitimate.

Check out the company

After being presented with a job offer that seems enticing, the first thing you must do is check out the company’s background. This does not require professional detective work, instead a simple Google search can provide all the information you need.

The thing about phony jobs is that once someone falls into the trap they set, the victim will start flooding forums and social media websites with complaints and warning messages.

Let’s be honest, if someone scammed you, wouldn’t you want to alert others? 

In the situation where a phony company changes its name a lot, you can search for the ad’s content. Fraudsters may change the website and the company’s name, but in most cases the fabulous story served to potential victims remains mostly unchanged.

The last clue that usually appoints a company as being shady is the aggressive marketing strategies they use to promote their job offers.

Usually, job offers that come via unsolicited email, or via a pop-up window that displays in big bold letters something like “single mom earns thousands from home” are scams. 

Also, beware of websites that replicate BBC, CNN or other popular news outlets. Fraudsters will write allegedly genuine articles trying to dupe the potential victim into believing that the famous company really did document the hard-to-refuse job offer.
These are the sites that ask you “Are you sure you want to leave this page?” whenever you want to close the window, but don’t give it a second thought. Just close it!

Never trust jobs that offer big money for small tasks

Legitimate jobs, such as the ones I mentioned before, offer a decent amount of money for tasks that can’t really be considered to be a walk in the park.

For instance, if you’re looking for freelance article writing jobs, for instance such as the ones provided by Helium.com, you’ll have to write a lot, and do it well, if you want to earn a decent pay. Such is the case with other similar companies. No one will give you big money to copy and paste pieces of text.

One thing I noticed about phony job offers is that in most scenarios they rely on the financial power of Google (or other well-known large organizations) to attract potential victims. 

A number of my acquaintances have fallen for scams in which they were promised large earnings and all they had to do was click on a few advertisements, on certain sites, each day. This may have earned a lot of money for the crooks, but not for the victim.

Another variation of this plot urges the “employees” to join a pyramid scheme in which they have to attract their friends into working for them. It’s like with many “door-to-door” sales companies, the only difference being that everything revolves around clicks instead of sales.

Work, but not too much

Let’s presume that a company passes all the tests, really looks genuine, and you would like to work for them.

First of all, even if everything is done remotely, genuine companies will offer you a contract for a limited or unlimited period. Not all companies like to be legit, but those who don’t want any trouble with the IRS or other state financial watchdogs draw up a contract which they ask you to sign, scan, and send back.

There is a chance that a phony company offers a contract just to make everything look genuine. You may think that scammers wouldn’t go through all the trouble, but if you would know the exact amounts they illegally gain, or with the aid of their victims, you wouldn’t be surprised. 

So, to make sure you’re covered and you don’t end up wasting a week or a month doing a task for con artists, you can do some work, but not too much. If the company pays you after each week of work, it’s even better. 

When you first start working for a legitimate company, no one expects that you work day and night, and do a really good job from the very start. This means that if you’re paid for each article you write, or for each small project you complete, you can keep the number to a minimum and start doing a better job only after the first payment you receive.

This is about it. If you follow this advice, you should have no trouble getting a work from home job that helps you get by until you find something permanent. Also, if I missed some aspects, or in case you have some other valuable insight on this subject, write a comment and let everyone know.

Stop filling the pockets of crooks with money and start filling yours.