No one better understands the desire of millions of Americans to be able to work at home than dishonest dream peddlers. For many years, these scam operators have made themselvs rich at the expense of naive would-be home workers. Their ads can be found all over the Internet, in tabloids, in the back of consumer magazines, tacked up on laundromat bulletin boards, and even in the help-wanted columns of newspapers. The promises are bigger than life and hard to ignore. "Easy work. Make $1000 a week assembling products at home," and "Get paid while you surf the Net" are typical headlines.

Why do otherwise sensible people fall prey to these bogus offers? Because the operators tell us what we want to hear - that we can make lots of easy money in the comfort of our living rooms. This is not a complete list, but these are the most common types of work-at-home scams:

--Envelope Stuffing
--Product Assembly
--Coupon Refunding
--Newspaper Clipping
--TV Monitoring
--Chain Letters
--Opening Email
--Mail Order
--Internet Surfing

Protect Yourself - Watch for These Reg Flags
To avoid being taken in by these and other schemes, take the time to carefully analyze each offer.
--A request for money should set off an alarm. Legitimate job offers do not require registration fees or payment for instructions.

--Is it economically feasible for the offer to produce the expected results? For instance, product assembly is only possible when the company is within you rlocal area. The cost of shipping parts and materials around the country is prohibitive.

--The company should have a listed telephone number and be reachable during normal business hours.

--Don't expect money-back guarantees to protect you. Words are cheap. If the purpose of the offer is to extract money, giving it back is not in the program.

--Ask this question: If this job is so great, why do you need to advertise it?

--Ask for references. Don't rely on references such as banks, accountants, or membership in a chamber of commerce. Those references only verify that the promoter is making money. The question is, will you make any money? If in doubt, ask to talk to other home workers in the company.

Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

For more information on work at home schemes, check out this article by the Federal Trade Commission.

There is an excellent source of legitimate work at home opportunities that's been around since 1986. It's the Work at Home Sourcebook. 

Be sure and check out the real success stories from people just like you who have found great homebased work through the Work-at-Home Sourcebook.