Warning! – Watch For Work-At-Home Scams

Work-at-home scams have been around for decades, but the economic downturn has fostered their growth since these scams prey on the unemployed or underemployed who are desperately seeking income. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says complaints about work-at-home scams are increasing faster than fraud complaints overall, and have almost doubled in the last five years. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recently issued warnings about two work-at-home scams involving shipping packages overseas—one claimed to offer positions as a "gift wrapper" for Best Buy, and the other, to be a "mail manager" for an online company.

Though there are legitimate ways to work from home, if a company is offering something that seems too good to be true, it usually is. An important distinction to make is whether you're actually being offered a job, or just the chance to make money.

Here are red flags to look for when reviewing work-at-home offers you see online:

• The company asks for money upfront for registration materials or supplies.
• You're told you can make lots of money with little effort and no experience, or are guaranteed a generous profit.
• You're asked to do tasks like stuffing envelopes, assembling small toys, or inspecting and reshipping goods.

The FTC advises consumers to do their research when job hunting. Google the name of the work-at-home company with the word "scam" and see what pops up. Also check the BBB website or your state attorney general's office to see if there are any complaints.

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This Month's FAQ – How Do I Find And Participate In Twitter Chats?

Question: I've heard that Twitter chats can be both fun and educational. How do I find out about chats that discuss my topics of interest?

Answer: A Twitter chat is a guided conversation where users interested in a specific topic hop onto Twitter to discuss it. Like a chat room, it's a topic-driven conversation happening in real time. Twitter chats simply take place on Twitter rather than somewhere else.

One way to find out about the Twitter chats scheduled each week is to check out this Google Document: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ# You'll find nearly 200 Twitter chats on a wide variety of topics including business/career issues as well as things like parenting, baking, travel, gardening, dogs, and cars.

You can also find chats simply by monitoring the hashtags (#) that come through your Twitter stream, since every Twitter chat is given a hashtag. If a certain one sounds interesting to you, click on the hashtag to see what participants are talking about. To participate in a Twitter chat, do your homework to find out if there are rules for participants (such as sending in questions ahead of time). Also make sure you include the appropriate hashtag on all of your tweets.

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Sites Of The Month – Great Sites To Check Out In October

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Short Tutorial – Using Keyboard Shortcuts For Your Browser

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The Staff at NCKCN






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