While there are many legitimate work at home Internet business possibilities and many reputable and honest work at home Internet business vendors, there are also some fraudulent schemes. You must choose carefully. The most prominent of these fraudulent schemes is for medical billing. Touted as one of the best work at home Internet business ideas, these schemers are just out for your money. The idea is to charge an upfront fee to get you started, and then leave you to fend for yourself in an industry where you have little chance of succeeding. Other fraudulent business opportunity schemes such as envelope stuffing and product assembly take your money and then reject your work ? and thus its payment ? as substandard.

Advertisements touting these prepackaged medical billing centers show up on TV, on the Web and in newspapers. Major metro newspapers, probably the most savvy about these schemes, generally do not accept the ads. Responding to the ad for the medical billing work at home Internet business opportunity will result in your receiving a phone call, with a pitch about the burgeoning health care system crisis. Typically the hawker will tell you that claims are piling up and waiting to be processed. The result, according to the person on the phone, is to process these claims electronically, which is not being done often or expansively. This, the pitch goes, is what makes it a lucrative work at home Internet business for you.

The promise is that you'll make a lot of money as doctors outsource their billing to you. You can, they say, work in accounts receivable, insurance claims and physician or dentist practice management. Including in the presentation is the assurance that not only do you not need experience but that their sales staff will kick start your work at home Internet business by putting you together with health care clients. The reality is that if you have any chance at all to make any money ? or even get your initial investment back ? you're going to have to find your own clients.

The investment for this alleged lucrative work at home Internet business is not small ? typically $2500-$9000. Prior to your commitment you will be mailed a business brochure, the application and license agreement (contract), document of disclosure, diskette samples, references and testimonials and videocassettes. Your investment is supposed to result in training, software and technical support. The references are commonly shills ? the name for people that a company hires to provide favorable but dishonest testimonials.

The reality is that medical billing is seldom a lucrative work at home Internet business. Few people who purchase these programs are able to find enough clients to even recoup their investment much less make a living at it. It's not that medical billing isn't a legitimate business. It's that the competition is fierce and the market is saturated.