During my time running a home business I have come across many scams, what I called the downside of the business. Of course in what we call real world businesses there are scamsters intentional or not, we’ve all heard of cowboy builders or that we should check our bank statements for mistakes or over high charges.

What seemed worse to me was that in biz ops many of those scammed were desperately trying to start an home business with a pitiful amount that was all they had to spare. They didn’t just lose their money they lost the hope and dreams that they had of using their money to build a better future. That is why I have always given out scam warnings.

I published a magazine and I had to decide on an advertising policy and stick to it. My policy was not to accept ads for anything illegal or unethical. It wasn’t always easy, I had many an argument with plonkers who insisted that my policy was wrong. But, why should those who wanted to rip my readers off use my magazine? Why should I risk being closed down by the Trading Standards Authorities for the sake of a few bob – not worth it! Therefore I kept my magazine clean and always warned my readers whenever a new scam appeared.

I am not an expert on the law, but I have a darned good idea of what is not legal or ethical, or what will never do anything but lose money for you! During my magazine publishing days the question that I was most asked was ‘How do you identify a scam?’

It isn’t always easy to tell what is real and what is not, but I follow these guidelines:

·        If it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn’t.

·        If you are unsure ask for a list of at least 10 satisfied customers that you can contact.

·        Don’t believe anybody telling you that it is easy to make money. It is rarely easy to make money unless you work at the mint.

·        If you are denied irrevocable proof of earnings run!

·        Don’t believe anybody telling you that you can make money quickly – the only people who make money quickly have spent time and money building their businesses up to enable eventual faster gains.

·        If a plan isn’t legal one of the reasons would be that it doesn’t work and many others have lost money through it.

·        Anybody asking you for money for paid work is a scamster. If the work is genuine then there should be no fee.

·        If you get a letter or email telling you that you have won a large amount in a lottery or competition that you haven’t entered it is without doubt a scam. They are after a fee to transfer winnings that don’t exist.

·        If you get an email telling you that you are needed to help transfer large amounts of money out of an African or almost any other country bin it. This type of scam originated in Nigeria and they are called the Advanced Fee 419 fraud scheme. They are after your bank details, or a payment to help them get non existent cash out of whatever country they say they are from. Millions have been lost to this type of scam and murders have been committed. Do not reply, do not let them have your money.

If you suspect that something is a scam the simplest thing to do is google the names or key words. Many of the scams have been running for years in some form or other and are well documented on the Internet. I hope that this article will help to stop you from being scammed.

Written by Patricia Jones who has long been an opponent of scamsters.

Patricia owns several websites including:

Eprofits Centre which offers free digital downloads a business article directory and much more.

Articles Abroad is a niche travel article directory