Beware of Work-from-Home Job Posting Scams on Craigslist

Craigslist can be a valuable tool for individuals seeking a job that will allow them to work from home. Many legitimate telecommuting job postings can be found on Craigslist, but those real opportunities are often hidden gems in a sea of scams.

Some of the most common scams include "payment processing" or "package handling." In fact, if you see any jobs that involve moving money, you can feel fairly confident you're being given the opportunity to join a money laundering operation. If you see a job posting that asks you to receive and ship packages, you can assume that by accepting this position, you'll be trafficking stolen merchandise or worse. Many people I've spoken with or read about who have fallen for these scams have invited unwanted police investigations into their otherwise honest lives. Follow this basic rule of thumb when you're perusing job postings on Craigslist or other online job boards, if the job offer seems too good to be true, it's probably a scam. Proceed with caution or better yet, run away.

Red flags should also go up if a job posting requires applicants to pay any kind of upfront fees or if the pay seems exhorbitant for the job. Furthermore, if the ad states that the opportunity is 100% legitimate, it's probably a scam.

Below are examples of job postings that should raise a red flag. These ads were posted to my local Craigslist's part-time jobs section within the last week. The examples are taken word-for-word from the most relevant sections of the Craigslist postings (including grammatical errors and misspellings, so you can see the scam examples in their original formats). Of course, it's possible these postings are perfectly legitimate, which is why I omitted the company names (if they were provided) and other information from the ads. However, from my experience in finding work-from-home jobs, these ads make me wary.

Scam Example 1: Payment Processing

"I will be glad if you could work with me as my representative in America. You will be working as my payment assistant in charge of collecting the payments from my Associates. Since they will be making the payment in bank transfers made payable only to you in the United State,you will be collecting this payments and cashing them on my behalf. On agreement to been my representative, you will receive a commission of 10% of whatever amount of payment you receive from my associates. JOB DESCRIPTION? 1. Receive payments from My Clients/Associates through checks and money order. 2. Cash the Payments at your Bank. 3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission/percentage on Payment processed. 4. You are to remit the balance via Money Gram or Western Union Money Transfer according to my instruction. HOW MUCH WILL YOU EARN? 10% from each transaction!"

Scam Example 2: Package Handling

"WE NEED HOME MAIL PROCESSORS IMMEDIATELY! National company expanding in your area needs individuals to stuff envelopes at home. No experience required. Full-time/Part-time. $1,400 A WEEK GUARANTEED! $200 SIGN-UP BONUS."

Scam Example 3: Package Handling with an Ebay Twist

We are looking for a couple of good people to sell our products on ebay and make a steady income your profit would range between $5-$25 each time one of our product sales yeah you're right its not alot the more you sell is the more you make the best thing with ebay all items 99% of the time always sell you would be listing 200-300+ of our products on ebay a month this is an opptunity for you to build your own business by listing our products and watching products sale

Were looking for people that are: Dedicated, Trustworthy, Consistant, Hard Working

Requirments: Must answer customers questions in good timing, Willing to put in time,

What we do: Create the listing for you and email it to you to list, Provide the pictures, Pay 100% of the ebay fee

Your job: List our products

Scam Example 4: Exhorbitant Pay

"Make $500 to $3,500 Per Month From Home! Without leaving your home or risking one penny of your hard-earned money! Without Owning a Website! Without Selling Anything! Without Paying for Advertising! Without Needing Prior Experience!"

If you see an ad on Craigslist that seems illegal, flag it using the Craigslist flagging process and file a complaint on The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website. IC3 is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NWC3) formed for the purpose of receiving and following up on cyber crime complaints. Additionally, file a complaint at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection website. It's important to understand that Craigslist is not the only online job board that falls prey to scammers. You'll need to be cautious and weed through the scam clutter on any online job board you use during your work-from-home job search.