Beware Remote Scam Ahead

Many would love the opportunity to ditch their 9 to 5 job and be able to work remotely. Many companies are researching if a return to the office is necessary and remote work may be the norm in the future. Sadly, just as rapidly as legitimate remote jobs appear, scams are taking advantage of the increasing appeal of remote work. These scams come in many different forms. They can come from an appealing email or even your best friend from high school.

One phrase to keep in mind when looking for remote work is if it sounds to good to be true it probably is. This is something I experienced not to long ago. I got an email from https://paidonlinewritingjobs.com/ that said I qualified for a writing jobs that paid $20.00 to $35.00 per hour.

At first looking at the site everything looked legitimate. According to the site they provide remote writing jobs, training and you do not have to have professional writing experience to get started. I instantly wanted this opportunity to ditch my 9 to 5 job and be able to stay home with my baby. And so, I applied. I put in my personal information, writing experience, and level of education. Instantly the site matched me to 4 job opportunities.

I was thrilled to find that I had been matched with four jobs that paid $35.00 an hour and continued to read through the information on the site for how to start. That is when the red flags started to appear.

One red flag was that I would have to pay for my training, but I just brushed it off because they pay was going to be great. However, a major red flag was they said that this was a special offer and their normal fee was $99.00 a month, but for today I would be able to start for one dollar to have access to this VIP service. Instantly, I stopped and stared at the screen. A monthly fee for a job site? That sounded crazy to me to pay for jobs. Then after reading I saw I would pay the dollar for the training and then it would be $47.00 per

I instantly clicked out of the site and blocked the email address in my inbox.

This is a scam and looking back another red flag was the amount I was supposedly going to be getting paid for the job. I had no experience, but I was going to be getting $35.00 per hour? That amount was enough to get me excited as I currently make much less than that and dive in without thinking twice.

I work in the financial industry and honestly should have known better. However, even knowing the signs of a scam I almost fell for it and that just shows how much power money really has.

Money is the most effective tool in the scammers arsenal because it can draw even a trained professional in and get them potentially emotionally invested in the opportunity offered. Luckily, I see this type of scam every day and noticed the major red flags as soon as I saw them. However, most are not that lucky, most don’t know the signs of a scam, and don’t realize you shouldn’t have to pay to have a great opportunity available to them. You especially shouldn’t have to pay a monthly fee to have jobs available to you.

There is one thing you should always remember when shopping for remote employment. That is the job should not cost you a ton of money to start, have access to work, or send you money and ask you to deposit funds into your account to then send money back to them. My goal in writing this is to expose a scam to those that might be vulnerable to it, and to share that if you are scammed it is okay.

It can be embarrassing to know you fell for a scam, but it can teach a valuable lesson. Just like I thought with my back ground and knowledge of scams I was not vulnerable. Turns out I am and that is okay.

Human beings are constantly searching for things that will make their lives better, but we have to remember that not all that glitters is gold.

ALWAY READ THE FINE PRINT!!!

Reading the fine print is what saved me from making a potentially very bad financial decision and it can help you too.