Identity Theft- Beware any company that asks for your social security and/or driver's license number. There is an increasing number of people using job advertisements as a way to obtain this information. The Identity Theft Resource Center offers this advice: "Recently there have been scams involving Internet Job Websites and Newspaper Want Ads. Under no circumstances should an applicant place a SSN on a resume. Under no circumstances should an applicant provide a SSN to a "HR person" found through a newspaper ad or an Internet ad prior to an actual interview or prior to authenticating both the company and the person asking for the information. Typical tip-offs: Email addresses that do not include a company name in the domain section, mailing addresses or fax addresses in cities that differ from corporate headquarters." This article by Bob Sullivan at MSNBC tells the story of someone who fell prey to this scam: Online job listing an ID theft scam *January 1, 2005: A company using the name "Visually Impaired Everywhere, Inc" or "Visually Impaired Everywhere, Inc" is advertising a work at home job as a mortgage telemarketer. Basically what this meant was calling from different lists to set appointments for loan officers. They promise to pay commissions for leads. The posting claimed to be VIEW INC. Their ads promise free equipment, and long distance. They claim to not charge any set up fees, or shipping fees. I was contacted by someone who says that the company does not pay the commissions and that they attempt to make you pay for special equipment. He investigated the company on his own and learned that according to Florida's Business Line, Visually Impaired Everywhere Inc. is not an official incorporation. I was unable to find a report with the BBB for this company, but would definitely recommend that this company be avoided. Their website is www.viewincleads.com. Brandell Communications, Inc.- Years ago, a company named Brandel Corporation put out a publication. This publication is being reproduced by average people, like yourself, posing as a real company hiring real employees to work from home. This job description will state you can work full-time or part-time or it may state 10-20 hours weekly. You will need your own computer, high-quality printer, and access to the Internet (most online jobs require this). The fee to get started is for a diskette that may cost you anywhere from $6.50 - $35.00, depending on the crook (reseller) who wants your money. The average cost is between $12.95 and $15.00. If they decide to send the diskette, your job is to copy the diskette files to your hard drive, buy more diskettes from the store, copy the files from your hard drive to the new diskettes and advertise the same way they did on the Internet. You aren’t working for them, but for yourself. Of course, they don’t tell you this in the advertisement. A reseller posted a listing in our job database here, but it was promptly removed after an alert site visitor pointed out the violations of our terms of use. *Update: They're still at it. Now under the name of "Data Entry Company", they are advertising for a data entry job. You pay for (and may or may not get) a download of reports which you are then supposed to sell to others. There is no data entry job. National Home Employment Service- aka NHES, American Homeworkers Association, Global Information Systems (GIS), JobCrop Chris Sours uses the name Danielle Sours to post job listings for Administrative/Clerical work. Update: They're back. Looks like NHES is now going by the names: CDMDigital, Beverly Carson and CBPservices. He's been posting job listings at Monster.com. Click Here to see an example of the email he sends to prospective suckers....er, employees. Update: Looks like all the complaints that people filed have paid off. According to the Illinois BBB, Mr. Sours has been permanently banned from advertising his scams and was ordered to pay fines. You can see that report Here. Belit, Ltd.- They use the following advertisement: "U.S.Representative Job is very simple. You're getting mail/packages from our partners around USA (including Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba etc, all are well-known names). You'll need to fax letters to us and forward packages(usually that's computers and components).We require signing contract. First month is a probation period, after that we'll raise salary if both parties are satisfied. Contact us for detailed description of a job." They actually do have electronics sent to you, which you are then asked to mail to various countries. You pay for the shipping, but the company promises that you will be reimbursed and will also earn a ridiculously large commission for doing this. They never do pay you, they use stolen credit cards to purchase the items and they are getting you to illegally ship products overseas. They've also used the name IDT Ordering What to do if you've been scammed by Belit. Nigerian Scam- The following email scam has been widely distributed in many forms for some years. The FBI have published information about the scam at http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/phnx/pxfraud.htm and strongly recommend recipients do not reply to the email in any way. There are many different versions of this scam in existence, here is a typical example. Email Scams Basic Chain Letter The Latest Version PayPal Chain Letter

This site exists to offer LEGITIMATE business opportunities. Before considering any offer of employment, it is wise to do as much research as possible. The Better Business Bureau- This should be your first step. The best way to find a report is to try all variations of the company name. You can also do a Whois Lookup to find the "real" company name and contact info. The Federal Trade Commission -Do a search for multi-level marketing and you can get a ton of information. You can find out which companies are or were being investigated or taken to court by the FTC, and lots more. National Fraud Information Center -Check with the National Fraud Information Center at the website or 1-800-876-7060. NFIC provides lots of valuable resources about telephone, mail, and online scams. Cagey Consumer -Keep on top of the latest scams, and investigate hot topics like Internet fraud and travel scams. Internet ScamBustersTM- Offers information on scams, hoaxes and fraud and how to protect yourself. The nation's 50 state Attorneys General are also responsible for protecting the public against fraudulent and deceptive telemarketers and others who prey on unsuspecting victims. Several of them have their own web sites and can provide you with specific information on their activities. Do a search for "attorney general" to find the office in your area.

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