Before investing in any home business opportunity, we strongly
recommend that you take steps to research the opportunity and
the company to reduce your chances of losing your hard-earned
money.
Here are 10 tips from the national
association of Home-Based Working Moms (HBWM) for Avoiding Scams and Reporting Scams & Schemes to The Proper Authorities / Organizations
1. Research the company and always check them out with
the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org/bbblookup)
located in their city.
2. Ask for at least three references of people they have
worked with. Call each person and ask about their experiences
with the company.
3. Be cautious of any company that asks for money to make
money (such as money for registration, materials or
instructions).
4. Don't be fooled by ads claiming you can make large
amounts of money in short periods of time. And be cautious
of companies that require you to sign up immediately. If it
sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
5. Get specific information (in writing) from the company
such as how long they have been in business, where they
are located (not just a P.O. Box), how many customers they
have, what their refund policy is (read it thoroughly), how
long it takes to get paid and if there are any restrictions
on payments, etc.
6. If you do invest in a business opportunity, use your
credit card instead of cash. It may be easier to dispute
the charges with your credit card company rather than trying
to get your money back from a fraudulent company.
7. Research current scams on web sites such as ScamBusters
at: http://www.scambusters.com.
8. Call the National Fraud Information Center at (800)
876-7060 for information or visit their web site at: http://www.fraud.org.
9. Report any scams or fraudulent companies to the Federal
Trade Commission www.ftc.gov, your state's Attorney General
and the National Fraud Information Center, PO Box 65868, Washington,
DC 20035, (800) 876-7060.
10. Don't invest in any opportunity that you are not sure
about. Instead, find something that you are interested
in and will enjoy doing. (Do what you love, and the money
will follow.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lesley
Spencer is founder and director of the national association
of Home-Based Working Moms (www.HBWM.com)
and the creator of Mom's Work-at-Home Kit (www.MomsWorkatHomeKit.com).
HBWM.com, Inc. is committed to bringing working moms closer
to their children. Sign up for their free eNewsletter at:
www.hbwm.com/enews.htm
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