Work-from-home scams: Uncle Sam wants to know
Columnist David Lazarus answers your consumer questions in this one-minute video.
James receives lots of emails offering him big bucks for working from home. And, you may be surprised to learn, he suspects that they’re not on the up and up.
James asks: Where can he report bogus work-from-home pitches?
First of all, not all such emails are scams. There actually are some legitimate work-from-home businesses out there.
ASK LAZ: Smart answers to consumer questions
But the vast majority of such come-ons are nothing more than attempts to trick you into revealing personal information, such as your Social Security number.
If you’re in the market for some work-from-home action, some light Googling will typically reveal fairly quickly which offers are the real deal and which ones are total rackets.
Rule of thumb: If a business is promising piles of cash in return for hardly any work, it’s one to be avoided.
As to James’ question, the place to report unsavory work-from-home offers is the Federal Trade Commission, which keeps tabs on who’s scamming whom, and how often.
For more, check out today’s Ask Laz video.
If you have a consumer question, email me at asklaz@latimes.com or contact me via Twitter @Davidlaz.
