More than likely you have seen them cropping up all over the internet: work from home schemes promising participants vast sums of money for selling a product, stuffing envelopments, clicking ads, making phone calls, etc. The plans are as varied as they are innovative. Unfortunately, many are scams meant to extract cash from your wallet and certain to leave you feeling miserable and stupid. So, just how can you make sure that a work from home plan is legitimate? By continuing to read on for some suggestions to help you avoid being cheated.

Better Business Bureau – Check with your local Better Business Bureau {BBB} to determine whether the company has had any complaints levied against it. If it is an out of state concern, check with the BBB in the area [state] where the company is based.

State Attorney General’s Office -- Every state has an Office of the Attorney General and in most cases it is this office that is tasked with investigating complaints against companies. Some states allocate this responsibility to their Bureau of Consumer Affairs agency or similar department.

Online Forums, Blogs, etc. -- Google a search on the internet for the company’s name and narrow the results further by including negative words such as complaint, scam, judgment, etc. If a company is up to no good, likely that information has been published somewhere. Caution: too much praise about a company could be a company “plant” placed online to create a positive spin about their operation. Conversely, bad news could be a single disgruntled person. Get as much additional and independent information before making a determination whether something you read online is actually true.

Personal Investment -- If you have to pay for the product, i.e. to receive a list of companies providing information work information, etc. this should be a warning flag to you. Any outlay of cash on your part should raise some concern.

MLM -- Some work at home businesses are nothing more than multi level marketing [MLM] schemes. This means you make a percentage of the sales of people you bring in to the business below you. Not all MLM schemes are illegal...unethical may be another matter!

In all, exercise extreme caution before agreeing to any work from home plan. If a work from home plan sounds too good to be true, than likely it is false. Ask hard questions and do not sign a contract before letting a legal professional [of your choice] review the plan.

Copyright 2005 -- Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Samples from his portfolio are available right online.

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