The first thing that caught me off guard when I began searching for online work is that most opportunities were charging me money to work for them! I thought these were surely scams. The truth is many legit opportunities require some sort of administration fee to begin working. Although this is not typical in traditional offline work, it is fairly normal in online work. Let me example why with a common example.

Filling out surveys is a common way to earn money online. As an individual, you are welcome to try and contact all the major marketing companies around the world, and tell them that you are willing to take part in their market research. In order to be able to make any money at filling out surveys online, you would have to sign up with hundreds of marketing companies to make it worth your time. This would result in hundreds of hours of administrative work. Alternatively, you can join a paid survey site that has already established links with hundreds of marketing companies, helping you avoid the hundreds of hours of work it would take to setup. This is where the charge comes in - for access to their network of marketing companies that they have already established, they will charge you a monthly fee.

A little long winded, but the point is, paying money to join different programs does not necessarily mean that it is a scam or fraud.

So how do you find out if it is a scam or fraud? There are a couple of ways. First of all, look at the contact information that the offer provides you with. Can you call someone or email someone? Speaking to real people and asking questions about their program will help validate its legitimacy. Ask how long they have been around, how many people currently work for them, and if they have any money back guarantees. Most legitimate companies will respond to your questions, and will have money back guarantees.

Do a search in a major search engine using the offer name plus the word "scam." See if there are any pages that people have put up warning that the program is scam. Be weary of what you are reading, as you might just be reading a competitors webpage that is trying to get you to join their program instead. Of course, if you are finding lots of results and messages boards of people claiming that the program you are interested in is a fraud, you should probably stay clear of it!

Finally, search the internet for work at home message boards, where people like yourself post messages and share stories about their experiences with different work at home opportunities. Not only will this help you avoid scams, but may help you find other legitimate work at home opportunities that you did not know about!

After reading this, I am hoping that you are now more comfortable in choosing your work at home opportunities, with the knowledge of how to better spot a scam. The biggest thing to remember is that scams do exist, and to take your time and do your research when signing up for different work at home opportunities.

Chris Stackhouse