Want a Home Business? Better Watch Out

A Home Business Article Contributed by Alina Sandor

Home Business Scam Gets Squashed

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reported that a U.S. court recently temporarily shut down a scam that used spam emails to get takers for their fraudulent home business scheme. The scammers promised recipients of their unsolicited e-mail that they would earn $4 for each envelope they stuffed and mailed as long as they paid $24.77 for a start-up kit for the home business.

This home business scam worked. The people who fell for this scam were sent a CD-ROM instead, which explained how to get others to pay money for an envelope-stuffing kit, sort-of like a chain mail scam. Then, the victims were charged another $24.95 after a 30-day trial period.

The scammers, who operated under a variety of business aliases, would not honor the victims requests for a refund, they violated an anti-spam law because they faked return e-mail addresses and used deceptive subject lines, which tricked recipients into opening the email, as well as deceptive-business and telemarketing laws.

Could You be Next? Home Business Scams Target Everyone

If you read the paper or surf the internet you've probably run into a scam. They are everywhere. Pop-ups, banners, classified ads, and even emails can be used to draw you into a scam. Many times, it is hard to tell a scam from a legit home business opportunity. Even the smartest get caught up in scams.

Avoiding Home Business Scams

There are several ways you can beat scams like the one above.

First, never open an email with an address you don't recognize, even if the subject reads "Information You Requested" or "Re:".

Also set your spam filter to at least medium to catch these kind of home business schemes. If they never get to your "IN" box then you won't have to worry about them.

If you do open the email, always scan the email or ad for catches or small prints. Words or phrases that can tip you off to a scam are things like "Great business opportunity! " or "Make hundreds in just a few weeks! " The biggest tip off is the use of exclamation points. If the home business opportunity is so wonderful that it needs all of those exclamation points then wouldn't everyone you know be doing it?

Many emails have the option to unsubscribe from a mailing list so you won't get any more home business emails. Bad idea! By clicking on the link you are just confirming to the spammer that you have a valid email address. And now spammers are also starting to sneak special code into unsubscribe links. This turns the spam recipient into an unwilling partner in crime. The link is really a trick designed to turn the victim's computer into a zombie that can be used to send out more spam.

Still other spammers use a variation of this attack to put keystroke loggers on victims' computers, enabling the spammer to collect personal information, like passwords and financial account data from the victim.