Workwhistle

Cleveland.com -  Sheryl Harris

When someone called Oscar to offer him a chance to earn $38,000 working from home, he was interested enough to press the keypad to speak to a live representative.

His enthusiasm plummeted, though, when the rep told him the work involved calling people to tell them they had money due from the government.

That's right. Oscar had a chance to work at home scamming people.

It gets better: The caller wanted Oscar to pay for instructions.

"All I had to do was send them $69 for the package that told me how," Oscar said.

Work-from-home offers can be tempting in tough economic times, but being asked to pay for materials and other items up front is a sure sign of a scam.

And, of course, the U.S. government doesn't telephone folks with offers of money.

If you get a call like this one, report it to the Ohio Attorney General's Office (1-877-244-6446 or ag4ohio.gov) and to the Federal Trade Commission (1-877-382-4357 orftc.gov).

If you are job-hunting, consider visiting cleveland.com/scamfinder, where I've outlined a number of job and work-at-home scams to help you avoid them...

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/12/watch_for_scams_in_workfromhom.html