The world wide web is rife with home business scams.  If you are searching for home business opportunities, but need a little help sifting through the scores of frauds, “get-rich-quick” schemes and just plain outright scams -- we’re here to help!

There are legitimate home business opportunities out there that can help you to realize your dream of successful business ownership.  It’s finding them that presents budding entrepreneurs with a real challenge.

We’ve compiled the following expert tips and information to help you find profitable and legitimate home business opportunities.

Home Business Scams Defined

Let’s get started by defining the three different types of home business rip-offs:

· Fraudulent: These opportunities make deceptive or false claims. 

They deliver the stated item, but the product or service doesn’t have the results or perform as claimed.

· Get-Rich-Quick:  These schemes use emotional lures. 

These lures trigger an emotional response by targeting a heart-felt need or desire.

· Scams:   Take the money and run. 

No product or service is supplied for the payment received.

Expert Tips to Help You Avoid Getting Ripped-Off

The following expert tips are provided by Certified Home Business Start-Up Expert Kimberly Kelly, to help you recognize the legitimate business opportunities from the deceptive or fraudulent.

Tip #1:  Avoid websites that do not provide contact information, such as a legitimate street address and telephone number.

This is usually a sign that the company does not stand behind its product or service.  Legitimate businesses welcome contact with potential customers.

Tip #2:  Avoid home business start up websites that have a private domain name registration.

Any legitimate business wants to have their contact information found by all.  If they’re paying lots of money to be found by the search engines, why wouldn’t they want to be found by potential customers?  A private domain registration may be a warning sign that you’ve come across one of the many home business scams on the internet.

Tip #3:  Avoid home business opportunities that do not strive to build credibility and trust.

Does the company have memberships in trusted and legitimate business associations?  Do they belong to a chamber or commerce, trade organization or the Better Business Bureau?  Con artists usually don’t bother.

Tip #4:  Avoid any home business opportunity website with “too-good-to-be-true” claims of fast wealth with little or no effort.

If it were possible to become an overnight millionaire, the 6 o’clock news would be inundated with stories of such successes.  Keep in mind:  Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates all started out with very little -- but worked extremely hard to get what they now have.  This is usually true of most successful and reputable entrepreneurs. 

If you’ve found a home business opportunity that boasts of instant “guru status” or “overnight success”  you may have stumbled upon one of the many home business scams lurking in the shadows of cyberspace.

Tip #5:  Avoid any website that doesn’t offer a customer service policy clearly stated to visitors contemplating a purchase.

If the product is an electronic download, what if you have technical problems?  If the item is being shipped to you, what if it arrives damaged?  It you are buying a service, what if you aren’t satisfied with the quality? 

All of these questions should be addressed in the customer service policy.  This policy should be easy to access by anyone interested in making a purchase. 

Protect Yourself Against Home Business Scams

Protect yourself by knowing your rights.  If you believe you may have been the victim of questionable business practices, here are a couple of suggestions. 

• Contact the company’s customer support department and state your concerns.  Give the merchant ample and fair opportunity to resolve your problem before requesting a refund.

• Always use a third party method of payment like PayPal, if possible.  Limit the merchant’s access to your credit card or bank account information.  You may also decide to dispute the transaction through your credit card company.

Information Sources on Internet Fraud

For more information on internet fraud, feel free to contact any of the following organizations.

• OnGuardOnline.gov

• nclnet.org

• Fraud.org

Report Suspected Fraud

Contact any one of the following agencies to report suspected fraud.

U.S. Internet Crime Complaint Center

U.S. Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section

U.S. Federal Trade Commission

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

International Internet Complaint Center

International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network

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