Consumer alert: Those work-at-home job offers could be scams

Impostors will ask for money to cover cost of software, laptops

The work-at-home job market has opened the door to slick impostors who offer great jobs, great salaries and broken promises.

According to online jobs analysts, for every legitimate at-home job offer there are 60 scams waiting in the wings.

Dawn Taylor of Daytona said she thought she had landed the perfect work-at-home position with IGM Financial Inc., a Canadian company based in Winnipeg.  

News 6 confirmed the company is legitimate, but the offer presented to Taylor had nothing to do with IGM because there was no at-home position with the company.

Taylor said the woman who interviewed her by phone seemed legitimate but when she was directed to buy the necessary equipment for the job, she knew something was wrong.

According to Taylor, she received a check from a Colorado bank to purchase software and a laptop.

“They said they didn’t have the laptops available," Taylor said. “I called the bank and the bank did not have an account with that name on it.”

Incredibly, she was supposed to buy the equipment and then send it to the company to have it programmed.

Carol Cochran of Flex Jobs told News 6 the people claiming to be job recruiters know how to play the game.

“They’ll have conversations with people and string them along for a series of different interviews,” Cochran said. "They’ll clone the website; if you’re not super savvy, you won’t notice that the website is a little bit different.”

According to Cochran, there are several online catchphrases that usually indicate the job being offered is questionable:  work from home jobs, work from home for free, and online jobs work from home are all hints of deception.

Cochran said the deals always end up being about your money. If the company recruiter is asking you to buy supplies or invest in the company, you are being scammed.

Flexjobs.com screens every company to make sure the jobs offered are legitimate.

Other sites that offer reliable posts include: feetech.com, vavavirtual.com and blueskyelearn.com.


About the Author:

News 6’s Emmy Award-winning Investigative Reporter Mike Holfeld has made Central Florida history with major investigations that have led to new policies, legislative proposals and even -- state and national laws. If you have an issue or story idea, call Mike's office at 407-521-1322.

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