How to tell a work-from-home scam from a gem

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Sure as the desire to work from home while earning a good living hits new workers every year, scam artists will find all kinds of clever ways to trick people out of their money and time with work-from-home job promises.

As the Better Business Bureau notes, the Internet may be changing how scammers get ads and messages before a wide audience fast, but their targets have not changed. "Work-at-home con artists have always preyed most heavily upon senior citizens, the disabled, mothers who want to stay at home with their children, people with low income and few job skills, and people who just want to get rich quick," the BBB warns.

The too-good-to-be-true offers seem to be everywhere, even in the comments on Shine. So to separate true work-from-home opportunities from scams, follow your instincts and this advice:

SAHM, SWAT, WFH mom: Whatever you call yourself, get paid what you're worth!

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For a long time now, the Wall Street Journal's Sue Shellenbarger has done a terrific job of writing about the many, many creative ways time-strapped workers try to eek out some balance between work and family. Recently, the columnist wrote about moms who have stepped out of the workforce to take care of their kids are putting their toes back in by taking consulting jobs that take a fraction of the time -- and a fraction of the pay -- as their former full-time gigs.

I'm all for the rise of firms like MomCorps and Flexperience that connect talented, highly skilled women with part-time or contract work. But in addition to tossing around yet another ridiculous and patronizing moniker that boxes women into bite-size marketing units, the Journal piece hints at the fact that some women doing project work on the cheap.

Wfh on Shine

How to tell a work-from-home scam from a gem

SAHM, SWAT, WFH mom: Whatever you call yourself, get paid what you're worth!