(1) Do a quick search by using some of the major search engines such as Goggle or Yahoo and type in the company or person name followed by the word "scam." Research all leads. check to see if there are any complaints online.
(2) Check with the state's Attorney General's Office. They keep a list of complaints made on companies
(3) Go to: fraud.org to see if the company or person is listed. They provide a lot of information about telephone, mail, and online scams.
(4) Always look for a phone number, physical address and check to see if this information is correct.
(5) Make sure that the company offers a money back guarantee. Find out what steps to take to get this request granted.
(6) If a company asks for your personal bank account information, this may be a cause for concern.
(7) Whenever purchasing a product or service, always leave a paper trail by using a credit or debit card. Never pay in cash. You may want to dispute charges and paying by cash will prevent this from being carried out if you feel like you've been ripped off..
(8) Never do business with anyone in the country of Nigeria. The Nigerian Government is in on most of the scams from that country. This is just too large a business for Nigeria to crack down on. I once received a cashiers check in the mail from a so-called lottery company for five-thousand dollars and was instructed to deposit this in my bank and when the check clears to wire the money to an agent for processing then wait for my big lottery check. I called the bank from which the cashiers check was drawn on and found out that they had just had a bunch of cashiers checks stolen from their bank. I was also told that this was set up by a Nigerian fraud ring. There have been numerous reports of high-level officials of the Nigerian government and the Central Bank of Nigeria personally participating in some scams. So Beware.
(9) Do not respond to Spammers. This is usually a desperate attempt to get your money by other means rather than ethical business practices.
(10) Always make sure you get a receipt or confirmation number and print it out on hardcopy for your records. The burden of proof is on you.
(11) If it sounds too good to be true, guess what, it is and it smells SCAM!
I sincerely hope that this article was some help to those of you who are really concerned and don't have a lot of money to throw away. Being the scram free business advocate that I am, I am always looking for businesses with a good track record and have invested in a few myself. It was not always like this before and there were times when I wished I had someone who could lead me in how to look for a good business. Not actually point one out for me but, but someone to teach me the nuts and bolts of how to look myself.
Crystal Davis is a Home Based Business Consultant , Scam Free Advocate, and A Free Lance Writer. Her passion is to help those, especially mothers whether married or single looking to transition from traditional employment to living out their dreams in their own home based business.
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