We get a lot of inquiries from consumers about these offers, like "Is this a scam?" or "Is this an illegal pyramid scheme?" or "Can I really make tons of money from home doing this?"

There are plenty of legitimate work-at-home opportunities, but there are lots of scams too. Signs of a scam:

• Promises of easy money. As with any job, working from home requires work. The more you put into it, generally the more you'll get out of it.
• Unsolicited offers that come by mail, phone or e-mail. These are usually scams, and many of them include a bogus check, hoping to lure you into an overpayment scam. If you want a good work-at-home job, you need to go out and find them yourself. You can check our KnowMO database to find out if we have consumer complaints against a company.
• Start-up costs. You should not have to pay to get a job. They're supposed to pay you.

We see a lot of work-at-home scams using secret shopper jobs and HUD Tracers as the hook. You can file complaints with our office if you suspect a scam.