Assembly Job

This is another long time scam that first appeared in the local press classified advertising sections.

Always successful in a recession, they are targeted specifically at housewives and disabled people.

Preying on people's need to earn more money, the ads say that all you have to do is put their  kits together and they will pay you.

Here's the scam part.

First off, you have to pay for the kits. These can be craft kits, greetings cards or even small furniture items.

The cost of the kits range from £5 each to several hundred pounds each. The higher the value of the item, the more money you'll earn.

The problem is that, the companies concerned will never pay you a penny.

Their "quality control" department will say that the work you have done is not up to their standard.

You'll never get the item returned to you either. You'll just get rejection after rejection.

To avoid being ripped off by these work from home scams, you should follow these quick tips:

• Don't reply to an ad that has a PO Box number
• Do a quick Google search for the company name - you'll probably find previous victims
• Do a background check on the company. In the UK, you can see how long has been in business by checking with Companies House
• Real home working opportunities, working for genuine companies are extremely rare and will not be advertised in post office / newsagent windows, on lamp posts or in classified ads in free newspapers.
• Avoid looking for this type of work on the Internet. Scammers are very prevalent. Even if you see opportunities advertised on THIS web site, don't answer them.