The number one question I get asked here at Typing Jobs From Home is about getting an online job without getting scammed. The question is phrased slightly differently and people have different circumstances but they generally all have the same question. I would imagine that if this reflects the greater job seeking community then there are a lot of people falling for online job scams every day.
There seems to be a general theme to the questions that I am getting. The person will generally be female with one or more young children at home. They have some sort of typing skill picked up from a previous career before they started a family. Their current circumstance means that they cannot go out to work. They want to work part time to help cover the cost of bills. Finally they have been scammed one or usually more times and are desperate to find work without being scammed again.
I have lost count of the number of times I have replied to questions that I get here or where I have written on the site about how you should never pay for a job opportunity. I don't know why but some of you are obviously not following this one golden rule. So why are people that are seeking online work still falling for scams?
One of the problems is that the offers and opportunities many people see online seem legitimate. Some sites are offering genuine ways to earn money working from home whilst at the other end of the scale there are just plain old cons or scams.
Let's start with the genuine opportunities. They offer to show you how to earn money online by providing a guide or online training. Whilst these may be genuine they often very misleading often claiming you can earn lots of money for very little work. The problem is that once you have parted with your money you realise this is not something you could or want to do. It is far too complicated or will take ages before you start earning any decent amount of money. Whilst technically these are not scams they may seem like it as they do not provide immediate results. You want to start earning now and not in 6 month's time.
The second type that many people fall for are the plain old scams. They offer some type of work or a way to earn money online from home but never deliver on their promises. It may be as simple as you sending of your hard earned cash only to hear nothing from them again. You may pay out for something that you thought would lead to a job but it doesn't.
The problem is that these types of promises of being able to work at home for a few hours a day and earn more than you would in a regular job always sound so convincing. The reason for this is that they always tell you what you want to hear, you get sucked in and to find out how to do whatever offer they are selling you have to part with your money. There is one very simple solution to this, don't send them your money.
Now some of you are going to ignore what I have just said the next time you see a big flashy site offering unrealistic riches for very little work and all you have to do is send them money. You will probably send them your money and still have no work. For those people I am sorry but I am not going to be able to help you.
For those who do desperately want to start earning online and have realistic expectations and are willing to work then you can start right now. It doesn't matter if you are looking for evening jobs working from home or you just want to work a few hours during the day. This is because many internet based jobs are flexible as long as you are consistent and can do the job to the standard that is expected then most anyone can find work.
The two things I am always telling people is do not pay out any money for work and explaining how to go about finding work online. The quick start guide for finding work from home jobs explains where to find work. You may not find a job overnight in fact it may be weeks or even months. I suggest that whilst looking for work you start doing some part-time online surveys which is an easy way to start getting some money coming. There is no point in applying for jobs then just waiting around. If you show willing by at least starting some type of work even if it is just doing surveys to start of with and being proactive it will not only get you earning and in the work frame of mind but show that you are willing to work.
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