Don't Be an Envelope Stuffer

Years ago, a friend and I were discussing a woman we knew who wanted to stay home with her children but was afraid the family couldn't make ends meet without the salary she brought in from her job.

"Well, she can always stuff envelopes," my friend said.

Not really. It's always been a misconception that there are companies out there just dying to pay unskilled, inexperienced people to do menial office work for big money. It didn't make sense back then to think that a company would be willing to pay thousands of dollars to have mail put into envelopes - something a minimum wage office worker or an unpaid intern could do - and it doesn't make sense now that a company would be willing to pay big bucks to have data entered into a computer, emails sent out, or typing done.

Most work-at-home job opportunities are work-at-home job scams.

ScamBusters.org lists 10 common work-at-home scams to watch our for:

• Craft assembly - You buy the materials and then are left to try to sell them on your own.
• Medical billing - You purchase a kit that supposedly helps set up a medical billing business in your home. No work is assigned to you.
• E-mail processing - This is spamming. The only email you process is the same ad you answered.
• A list of companies looking for home workers - The list you pay for is bogus.
• 900 Numbers - This is a toll call. You pay big for the call and get nothing in return.
• Typing at home - After sending the fee to the scammer for "more information," you receive a disk and print materials that tell you how to place home typist ads and sell copies of the disk.
• "Turn Your Computer into a Money-Making Machine!" - Once you pay, you are sent instructions on how to place ads and pull in suckers to "turn their computers into money-making machines."
• Multi-level marketing - to make any money, you have to recruit others.
• Chain letters and emails - sending a little bit of money to a person at the top of the list and mailing out pleas to a list of friends is a pyramid scheme and is always illegal.
• Envelope stuffing - When you send your money, you get a manual with flyer templates you're supposed to put up around town, advertising yet another harebrained work-from-home scheme.

First and foremost, before you fall for a work-at-home offer, think about the claims the ad is making. Does it make sense that a company would focus its ad on how much money you can make, instead of the job that it's advertising?