Subject: Re: Earn extra cash for the holidays working from home.

From: [email-masked] (Rick Ellis)
Date: 1 Dec 1996 03:25:14 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, MoMoney <No one!> wrote:
>       Homeworkers Urgently Needed!

                  United States
                  Postal Inspection Service 

                  Work-at-Home Schemes 

"Assemble our products at home. Earn $200 per week." How often have you
seen such an advertisement or ones like it?
Advertised opportunities to earn money by doing work in your home are
frequently nothing more than fraudulent schemes and,
at best, rarely result in any meaningful earnings. 

The targets of the work-at-home con artists are those who need extra
money but who are not able to work outside their
homes. Victims typically include mothers at home caring for young
children, the unemployed, the elderly, handicapped persons
and people with low incomes. 

These ads typically promise a "large income" for working on projects "in
great demand." Some promotions stress that "no
experience is necessary," while others indicate that "no investment is
required." The one characteristic common to all of these
schemes is that you are required to purchase something before you are
able to start work. 

Probably, the most common kind of work-at-home scheme is envelope
stuffing. Typically, all you receive for your money are
instructions to place an ad like the one you answered, which requires
you to rip off your fellow citizens to make any money.
Remember: modern mailing techniques and equipment have virtually
eliminated the need for homeworkers to perform legitimate
envelope stuffing, addressing, and mailing services from their homes. 

Some work-at-home schemes don't really offer work in the home, but sell
ideas for setting up home businesses. Other schemes
require you to raise animals. Many schemes require you to produce items,
such as sewing baby booties or aprons, making
Christmas wreaths or toys, or fabricating other specialty products. You
are not told that you will have to sell these items
yourself and that there is generally little or no market for them. The
promoters of such schemes are only interested in selling you
something--that is, the ideas, animals, or materials you need to start
your business. 

Sometimes the promoters indicate that "no selling is required." They
promise to buy back any items you make, as long as your
workmanship is "acceptable" or up to their "high standards." Of course,
these promoters will reject everything you send them
by telling you that your finished products do not meet their standards.
Once again, you are left to sell the items on your own, if
you can. 

If you fall victim to a work-at-home scheme, immediately notify your
local postmaster or the nearest Postal Inspector. The
sooner postal inspectors become aware of such a scheme, the sooner they
can prevent other people from being defrauded.