Step one:
One of the first things that you should do is check the company out with the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau will have any kind of information that is available on the company you are looking into, including "unresolved" and "unanswered complaints. And the good news is that even if they are not a member of the Better Business Bureau there can still be complaints filed against them, which will mean you have a report to access. You can also ask the Better Business Bureau to generate a report on a certain company if you are unable to find other information.

Step two:
You can also check out www.BBBonline.com to see a list of the most common scams and schemes about working from home. The list is continuously updated and includes old information as well. You can also check out companies that are considered online companies to see if they are valid.

Step three:
Another thing that you can do to avoid scams and schemes is to research the company online. There are many websites that offer comments and thoughts about businesses, not to mention websites that offer information about work at home scams and schemes. One good website to check out is www.snopes.com. What you want to look for is patterns of negative comments about the company; this can also be blogs or any other thing that has been posted online. If you do find numerous bad things about the company you should investigate the company further.

Step four:
Another thing that you want to look out for is paying for information rather than paying to invest in a product. Companies that want you to pay for a list of names of companies that will hire you or for training materials are probably not a good option. But the companies that are asking you to invest money in a home based business, such as direct sales, are more often than not valid because what you are paying for is similar to a franchise.

Step five:
Another thing that you want to consider is if you are looking for a job telecommuting or if you are looking for a home based business. The telecommuting job is an actual job that will pay you to work from home and no money is required, whereas the home based business is going to require some kind of monetary investment just like starting up any business would.

Other tips/resources:

• Just because there are numerous scams and schemes out there doesn't mean that you should stay away from all home based business.


• As long as you do your research and take your time to find the right opportunity for you the chances are good that you won't get scammed out of your hard earned money.


• But just be aware that some people make it their life long passion to take money from unsuspecting people, do your homework and you won't be one of the statistics.