How to Take Action Once You Have Been Scammed by a Work From Home Scam

OK, so maybe you didn't know about the N.E.M.O. Job Scam Blog. You have been taken by a Job Scam and you don't know what to do. Here are some tips to get your credit back in order and help you through this process.

1. Close all bank accounts at the bank where the scam took place. It is a good idea to change banks to avoid "social engineering" attempts by the con artists to fool bank workers into giving out new account information. Also, contact your credit card company to report any fraud that involves the credit card.
2. Order a credit report from all three credit bureaus every 2 to 3 months. Watch the reports for unusual activity. If you have given your SSN to the fraudster, we advise that you place fraud alerts on your three credit reports - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. For information on how to establish fraud alerts, read Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Fact Sheet 17a on identity theft, http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.
3. Victims of payment-forwarding scams should contact their local Secret Service field agent. The Secret Service handles complaints of international fraud. Fraud victims should also file a police report with local law enforcement officials as well.
4. Victims should report the company name, the job posting, and all contact names to the job sites where the scam was posted.
5. Victims should permanently close all email addresses that were associated with the job fraud.
Visual examples of what the fraudulent jobs look like, and what these scams look like in action are at http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/umabtips.html

Work from Home Earning-Money from Taking Surveys

It would be a perfect world if we all could really make a $100-150 an hour just taking surveys! But remember the cardinal rule and what your momma always told you-"If it sounds too good to be true then it probally is." Also, I can't repeat this enough, you should never have to pay or invest for a job!

I received an e-mail from someone thinking of signing up with Survey Scout. The writer stated that it seemed like a good company. I researched it on my favorite site, The Better Business Bureau (BBB)Website: http://search.bbb.org/index.html

The BBB has a great feature where you can just type the name of a business in and Voila! you will get info. Survey Scout was not favored by the BBB. You pay $34.95 and all you recieve is a list of companies that might pay you to take survey's.

Here is the full BBB report: http://www.columbus-ohbbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=70001479
In summary, the BBB has Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record.When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.The Bureau processed a total of 67 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 67 complaints closed in 36 months, 30 were closed in the last year.

I decided to look into other survey companies and see what type of reports they have, this is what I have found:

Paid-Surveys-At-Home: They received a giant F. The BBB strongly questions the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.

Survey Sampling Inc- Satisfactory Standing with the BBB

SurveySavvy - Satisfactory Standing with the BBB

Good Luck with your job search and ALWAYS research your company name on the BBB!!!
FOR MORE TIPS, JOBS, ADVICE, CHUCKLES, RECIPES, & MORE. VISIT www.nemothers.org
CLICK ENVELOPE TO E-MAIL TO A FRIEND!

Work from Home Envelope Stuffing Scam

VISIT www.nemothers.org for real jobs (remember the cardinal rule: You should never have to pay to work!)

Here is a great article on those envelope stuffing ads:
(KRON) -- AE from San Jose writes, "I always seem to find flyers about envelope stuffing and ways to make easy money. But when I go to the website that is provided, it requires me to pay a fee before being able to start. I was wondering if these websites are legit or are scams?"
AE has reason to be suspicious.
In return for your fee, the Federal Trade Commission warns, you have to send ads for envelope stuffing, or whatever, to friends, family and various publications. The only way to earn money is if people respond to your ad.
The Better Business Bureau also warns of stuffing envelope scams. Bottom line, you'll lose money, not make it through any of these work at home deals where there's little effort, no experience necessary, no regular salary, and an investment for materials.
So most work at home possibilities are not legit. If it was, there would be no upfront charge and they would lay out what you make and what you have to do to make it.
(Copyright 2005, KRON 4. All rights reserved.)

Latest Work at Home Scam-Mystery Shopper

VISIT www.nemothers.org for job listings

Many of you may have seen a "become a Mystery Shopper" ad while looking for a real flexible job. Just remember, if it sounds to good to be true then it probally is! The latest scam goes like this:

"There has been many reports of scams involving "mystery or secret shopper" advertisements that have run in local newspapers and on local radio stations.

Locally, Woonsocket Police answered the call of one woman who recently answered one of the ads. The "company" sent the woman what appeared to be a cashier's check in the amount of $974, along with some specific instructions. She was told to cash the check, keep $100 for herself and take the rest to Wal-Mart where she was to obtain a money gram for $874. At that point, the woman was instructed to send the money gram to an address in Canada.

The woman did as she was told and was promptly informed by her bank that the cashier's check was phony. Worse, she was required to repay the bank the entire $974. The victim reported the scam and city police pursued the Canada address with help from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Their investigation soon showed that the address was a front. There was no legitimate corporation or traceable source for the advertisement. Woonsocket police yesterday cautioned local residents to be suspicious of any advertised employment opportunities like this one."

For more scams, visit the Consumer Affairs-Scam website-it is hard to believe the amount of them out there! Remember, you should never have to pay to work or use your bank account.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/scam_alerts.htm

-Jeanne Girard

Work from Home Scams

It is hard to identify a Work at Home Scam, here are some tips:

-Know who you’re dealing with. The company may not be offering to employ you directly, only to sell you training and materials and to find customers for your work.

-Don’t believe that you can make big profits easily. Operating a home-based business is just like any other business – it requires hard work, skill, good products or services, and time to make a profit.

-Be cautious about emails offering work-at-home opportunities. Many unsolicited emails are fraudulent.

-Get all the details before you pay. A legitimate company will be happy to give you information about exactly what you will be doing and for whom.

-Find out if there is really a market for your work. Claims that there are customers for work such as medical billing and craft making may not be true. If the company says it has customers waiting, ask who they are and contact them to confirm. You can also ask likely customers in your area (such as doctors for medical billing services) if they actually employ people to do that work from home.

-Get references for other people who are doing the work. Ask them if the company kept its promises.

-Be aware of legal requirements. To do some types of work, such as medical billing, you may need a license or certificate. Check with your state attorney general’s office. Ask your local zoning board if there are any restrictions on operating a business from your home. Some types of work cannot be done at home under federal law. Look for the nearest U.S. Department of Labor in the government listings of your phone book.

-Know the refund policy. If you have to buy equipment or supplies, ask whether and under what circumstances you can return them for a refund.

-Beware of the old “envelope stuffing” scheme. In this classic scam, instead of getting materials to send out on behalf of a company, you get instructions to place an ad like the one you saw, asking people to send you money for information about working at home. This is an illegal pyramid scheme because there is no real product or service being offered. You won’t get rich, and you could be prosecuted for fraud.

-Be wary of offers to send you an “advance” on your “pay.” Some con artists use this ploy to build trust and get money from your bank. They send you a check for part of your first month’s “pay.” You deposit it, and the bank tells you the check has cleared because the normal time has passed to be notified that checks have bounced. Then the crook contacts you to say that you were mistakenly paid the wrong amount or that you need to return a portion of the payment for some other reason. After you send the money back, the check that you deposited finally bounces because it turned out to be an elaborate fake. Now the crooks have your payment, and you’re left owing your bank the amount that you withdrew.

-Do your own research about work-at-home opportunities. The “Work-At-Home Sourcebook” and other resources that may be available in your local library provide good advice and lists of legitimate companies that hire people to work for them at home. You may discover that these companies hire only local people and that there is nothing available in your area.

Best Companies to Work For

Seven Companies in New England made it on the Best 100 Companies to Work for according to Working Mother Magazine. They are:
Harvard University
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Springfield
Timberland Co. in Stratham, N.H.
Yale-New Haven Hospital
General Electric Co. in Fairfield, Conn.
Lego Systems Inc., in Enfield, Conn.
Phoenix Cos. in Hartford

We need more! We need to make more companies take a look at these leaders.

The magazine gave special consideration to companies that offer flexible scheduling and child-care services. Indeed, all of the employers chosen have flex-time plans, compared to 56 percent of employers nationally, and 94 percent offer child-care referral services, versus 20 percent nationally, said Carol Evans, chief executive and founder of Working Mother Media, the magazine's parent.

Work from Home Welcome

Welcome!
As a the creator of New England Mothers Organization and a mother myself, I wanted to create a more user-friendly format for N.E.M.O. members to connect and stay in touch with each other. I also wanted to share my thoughts and experience on being a work at home mom. A blog is born!

N.E.M.O. came from my own personal experience. I have always worked in flexible jobs and heard commonly that others wished that they could stay in the job market, raise their children but in a work-life balance manner. Knowing that their is too many non-legit job offerings, I set out to streamline the process for parents to connect to flexible jobs and find out about lifestlye listings.

However, along the way I realized that it is more than just finding a job, we are in the midst of a social change. Legislation needs to shift to providing more benefits for parents and companies need to re-evaluate how they look at thier role in this changing job market.

N.E.M.O. is going to be changing in the next few months to trully connect members to current actions and campaigns that will affect flexible employment. Also, this blog is meant to be a proactive approach to mothers, whether working or not, to empower themselves to acheive work-life balance.

It is also meant to be an active blog so PLEASE share your comments and let's start communicating.

-Jeanne Girard, Founder
"work from home