WORK AT HOME SCHEMES

These schemes have been estimated to gross $500 million from the pockets of several million people each year. Advertisements promoting work-at-home schemes promise large profits or salaries and emphasize that no experience or special skills are required. The work to be performed at home includes stuffing envelopes, clipping newspaper items, assembling products, and one scheme that caused considerable losses to consumers in Florida involved the production of fiberglass canoes in the home. The advertisements always forecast a great demand for the products or services, and they often contain anonymous or untraceable personal testimonials. People who invest time and money in these work-at-home schemes usually find that the promises and forecasts were highly exaggerated. Florida residents who recently answered a work-at- home advertisement promising weekly income of up to $500 for stuffing envelopes were informed that for a refundable fee of $20 they would be provided with all the information they needed to start earning money stuffing envelopes at home. Persons who sent in $20 learned that they would have to place an ad in a newspaper like the one they originally answered and that they would then accept the $20 sent in by persons responding to their ads, stuff the money in envelopes and send it in to the home office. Their income would be a percentage of the money they generated by their ads.

Persons who consider becoming involved in a work-at-home scheme should check the organization out carefully before committing themselves. Remember. there is no easy way to earn large sums of money at home!