Business Scam Warnings
If you’ve been looking around on the Internet for a great online job opportunity, you have no doubt seen an endless string of options.
Some of them may seem like fantastic deals just waiting to be had. But make sure to look at them a little more closely before you jump at a deal that may really be too good to be true.
Many of the ‘start your own business’ offerings online are scams. There are plenty of great, real business options out there. But unfortunately, there are many more scammers trying to take your cash and leave you with nothing but an empty wallet.
Follow this checklist before you consider any business opportunities, to avoid being the victim of a scam:
- Research – Online research is easy these days. Do a Google search for the business opportunity you are considering with the words ‘review’, ‘customer experience’, etc, to bring up customer reactions to using the company.
- Attorney General – Contact your local Attorney General’s office to see if the company has any complaints against them in your state.
If there aren’t, this is a good sign. If there are, delve further to see what the complaints are and if they should be a cause for red flags.
- Better Business Bureau – Contact your BBB office to see if they have any complaints about the company.
- Business Reports – A final way to check on a company is through their business reports.
You can enter their name into the Dun and Bradstreet database (http://www.dnb.com/us/) to get information about the company. While it costs about $10, it is worth that little amount to make sure you don’t lose a lot more.
Once you have done your homework, and a business has checked out, you can proceed with confidence.
