BBB advises: Take skeptical view of work-at-home offers

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Dec 23, 2003 by Staff

The Better Business Bureau, partnering with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Postal Inspectors and other agencies are starting a campaign entitled Operation Pushing the Envelope to heighten awareness regarding envelope-stuffing and other types of business opportunity scams.

President of the upstate New York BBB, David Polino said, This is the perfect time of year to begin such a campaign. We're at the height of our gift-buying right now, spending money for presents, travel, parties and other holiday preparations. In another month, the spending hangover will hit. Many consumers will confront bills that will seem overwhelming. They may worry about their current income and fret about the many weeks or months, it will take them to pay off their debt. It is at that time when many turn to these work-at-home offers.

The BBB wants to spread the word as widely and loudly as possible. DO NOT succumb to the work-at-home, get-rich-quick ploy! No legitimate business will hire anyone, sight unseen, with no experience, and pay him or her hundreds of dollars to do work from the comfort of their home. Stuffing envelopes is not the road to riches - it's a driveway to distress!

Our message has to out-shout and over-ride the alluring promises of con artists. For decades, they have tempted senior citizens, stay- at-home parents, those with disabilities, workers with little education or few job skills, and the recently unemployed to embrace a fantasy, commented Polino.

Statistics illustrate the perennial and particularly pervasive nature of these scams. For as long as the BBB system has compiled national statistics, they have dominated the attention of consumers seeking information from the BBB. In the last five years, consumer inquiries and complaints about work-at-home offers have almost tripled; in the past decade, they have more than quadrupled.

It's time to reverse those trends. The BBB joins with the FTC and postal inspectors to continue efforts to curb the outreach of these con artists, work with law enforcement and regulators to track down those who promise huge profits for part-time work, and encourage consumers to exercise common sense.

For more information on work-at-home schemes visit www.upstateny.bbb.org or the Federal Trade Commission site at www.ftc.gov.