The Opportunity to Steal from Your Home Base Business

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

Scamming a Home Base Business Owner with an Illegitimate Opportunity

That old saw that goes, "If it looks too good to be true, it is, " is still valuable guidance when you're researching an opportunity for a home base business. There are folks who prey on eager start-up folks and you need to know how to recognize these vultures. These disguise themselves as a home base business opportunity and offer high earnings while asking for little or even no cash up front. This situation is an almost dead giveaway that it's a scam. Let's look at some.

Examples of What is Not a Home Base Business Opportunity, but is a Scam

Bulk e-mail sale or rent. While there are plenty of legitimate firms out there whose business is to rent or sell well-researched e-mail lists, these reputable firms will ask a hefty fee of at the very least a few cents for each address. If you find someone offering you, for example, 50, 000 e-mail addresses for $39.95, they are a scam. They'll take your money and give you back nothing, or a totally worthless list.

Chain letters. These are illegal. Each one you get will tell you it is a legitimate opportunity for you, or your home base business. But it's illegal. The concept is to ask you to send a small or large amount - perhaps $5, or perhaps $100 - to the next person on the list, cross the last person's name off the list, replace it with yours and send the letter out to other folks - perhaps as many as several hundred.

This is a pyramid scheme, which basically means that there is no product or service - it is just about acquiring funds from the introduction of other people into the project. While you may, in fact, make some money from this sort of venture, the reason so many people lose money is simply that somewhere along the way - and you don't know where - someone will not follow through.

If it happens to be the folks who were supposed to pay you after you invested your money then you have spent money without any return.

Envelope Stuffing; also small item Assembly - purported to be a home base business opportunity , neither of these are legitimate. Your work will never meet their expectations. You will stuff envelopes that allegedly aren't addressed correctly and will assemble items that aren't assembled right. So they will refuse to pay you. What you're sending out in those envelopes you stuff is the message to someone else about how they can make money stuffing envelopes. Stay away from this one always.

Home Base Business Opportunity Scams That Offer Financial Assistance

There are two scams that offer to help your business financially - either repairing your credit, or getting you a business loan. The credit repair scam says that no matter how bad your credit they can make it better. Pay them and you'll all of a sudden have good credit. What's this about? It's about fraud - advising you to lie on any upcoming credit application. The business loan scam artists ask you to pay an up-front fee to secure a loan. Then what you get for your fee is a list of creditors (which you could have found on your one at no charge) who may, in fact, turn you down.