Work at Home Scams - You can Take this 'Secret' Scheme and Stuff It!
posted September 30, 2009 - 8:16pm
YOU CAN TAKE THIS SCHEME….and stuff it!
Work at home scams are like fashions – they come in cycles. One particular scam may be more prevalent than others at some point in time, but then the old scams
come back into fashion, and so it goes on.
Two of the scams that had fallen under the radar for a while, but that have appeared again recently in droves are the “Secret” letter and the “Chain Mail” letter.
I have lost count of the number of these letters that have appeared recently in my mailbox. I feel SO sad for the people who have sent those letters – many of whom – through the obvious style and unsteady handwriting – are elderly. Undoubtedly they have been scammed by someone else who has persuaded them to part with $25 $35, $50 or such for a “list” of addresses of people who “guaranteed” will pay them money for exactly the same thing! These poor people then spend a small fortune on envelopes and stamps and many hours writing the names and addresses of those who, they hope, will bring them some form of good luck by way of much-needed $$$s…. They never get a single cent, waiting desperately, unsuccessfully, for the mailman to fill their mailbox with checks from people they do not know..in the end coming to terms with the sad knowledge that they have been well and truly scammed.
In the 1980’s, chain mail was all the rage. It was a scam then, and it is now – no matter how it dresses itself!
The “Secret” Letter
Always a photocopy, the letter draws you in by its claims to have been written by a lawyer. According to the letter…this lawyer had a client who, incredibly, (and, yes it is absolutely incredible) received $200,000 last month merely by sending these letters to people and receiving money in return. By listening to his client – the lawyer learned the “secret” of instant wealth and wants to share it with you (for a fee)! The “lawyer” tells us that by virtue of adding one specific line of text to the letter – it took this letter from being illegal to being absolutely legal and therefore honest (oh really?).
If this lawyer is so happy – why doesn’t he tell us his name and the name of his practice? Afraid he’ll be struck off the register? If this person is real, so he should be struck off!
This is a scam which preys on those who hold people in certain positions – like lawyers, or doctors - in high regard. ‘Well it must be legal if they are a lawyer’! It doesn’t matter how finely a scam letter dresses itself – if it wants your money for a list, or for a few names, or guaranteed income….IT IS A SCAM
We cannot stress enough: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE…IT IS!
The Chain Mail Letter
Almost identical to the ‘secret’ letter but without the benefit (if you can call it that) of the respectable ‘lawyer’, the chain letter merely asks you to send $25, $25, $50 (or whatever it is) to the person at the head of the list (the list may be 4, 6 or 8 people, for example). Allegedly, when that person receives your money – your name will go to the top of the list and you will be next in line to receive the windfall.
This is fine if you want to burn your hard-earned money and send it to a scammer who will milk you dry. If, however, you want a real opportunity to make money – you need to find a real job instead. This is the brutal, honest, truth.
In this climate, especially, money is not earned easily. We have to work twice as hard, at least, as we may have done in the past for less reward. Taking the easy route – which in essence means buying into these scams (literally) is just a path to disappointment, disillusionment and penury.
BE CYNICAL
It’s your money and you have every right to decide how you spend it – whether on office supplies, fancy resumes, an online ‘profile’ or an interview suit. If you choose to spend some of it looking for home-based work, be wary and spend the money wisely. Don’t fall for something unbelievably great that promises you the world! Unbelievable it will be…great it will not! (Unless you count great profits for the scammer).
© Maria Daly 2008-2009 (formerly Telework International LLC)
To read all of my articles at Xomba just click on: http://www.xomba.com/user/mdaly
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