How to spot a scam artist in your work-at-home job search

For many people, working from the comfort of their own homes would be ideal. As you may have seen in previous blogs, some employers are embracing the telecommute idea. And some companies specialize in work-at-home jobs. Although the majority of the jobs posted on job boards like CollegeRecruiter.com are the real deal, some of them are not. Anthony Balderrama addresses this fact in his article, "Beware of Work-at-Home Scams."

Balderrama shares seven clues that indicate you may be dealing with a scam artist. But first, let's look at three work-at-home ads you should definitely avoid:

Assembling - you're denied payment if they feel you didn't properly complete the task.
Forwarding packages - beware companies requesting your bank account information. Have you even been hired, yet?
Envelope stuffing - all you get for your money is instructions on how to run a scam ad just like the one you answered.

Spotting the scams:

1. "'Work-from-home' is the name of the job listing.
2. Experience and resume optional.
3. You pay them.
4. Make $3,000 in one day!
5. The job finds you ... as junk email.
6. You don't know anything about the job other than the fact that you work from home.
7. The pictures speak louder than the words."