How To Determine Whether A Remote Job Is A Scam Or Not

How To Determine Whether A Remote Job Is A Scam Or Not

A job that lets you work from home can be a dream come true, but there are some fake remote job listings that you need to watch out for.

Predicting Whether a Work-from-Home Opportunity Is a Scam or Not

Throw out all of those dubious advertisements for remote jobs.

You’ve searched remote job boards and found a job you’d love to do from home. Working from home gives you control over your office atmosphere, work clothes, and microwave (so you can restrict reheating coworkers’ leftover fish supper for lunch). Karen, we know). Remote employment is awesome.

But not all work-from-home jobs are made equal, so it’s important to examine any remote job you’re contemplating. At FlexJobs, we analyze remote job advertisements to discover authentic, professional-level jobs. Most remote jobs we encounter are frauds, “business opportunities,” or other rubbish, so we’re skilled at spotting true ones.

Here’s what to look for when researching potential remote employment to avoid scams.

What to Search for in a Job That Allows Remote Work

These are just a few of the details to keep in mind, as every organization has its own unique way of handling remote jobs.

Location Requirements

Even though it might seem like a work-at-home job lets you work from anywhere, most remote jobs have some kind of location requirement. The company may want to hire people from a certain city, state, part of the country, time zone, or country. If you want a real “work-from-anywhere” remote job, pay close attention to the job posting’s location requirements.

Home Office Set-Up

Additionally, each organization handles equipment for remote employees differently. Some offices supply you with particular hardware and software (laptops, headsets, etc.). Some let you use your own equipment if it satisfies their standards (a certain operating system, less than three years old, etc.). And some provide no guidelines or equipment specifications.

Paying for Office Equipment

Some companies pay for or reimburse the cost of equipment for a home office. Some companies give you a technology stipend that you can use to buy equipment. Others have a “BYOD” system, which stands for “bring your own device.” This means that you are responsible for all costs, which are often tax deductible in the U.S. through the Home Office Tax Deduction. Before you accept any offer, make sure you know what’s expected of you. If you don’t, you might have to pay for some expensive technology.

Salary for Remote Jobs

Remote worker pay is determined in a variety of ways by different companies. Since different regions have varying expenses of living and, thus, varied market prices, location is typically taken into account when determining compensation ranges for conventional jobs.

Many businesses that offer telecommuting positions have salary levels that vary depending on where the prospective employee resides. Some businesses determine salaries based on where their offices are located.

You may get a fair idea of what to expect by looking at salary ranges at these two places on sites like Salary.com, PayScale.com, and Glassdoor.com. Don’t go into pay discussions unprepared.

Be Wary of Fraudulent Opportunities Regarding A Remote Job

Only one in 60 to 70 remote jobs offered online is true. The rest are cons. Some frauds are obvious (those in your spam filter), but others are cunning.

FlexJobs has spent 11 years evaluating over 47,000 companies and remote employment. They’ve seen a variety of scamming tactics. Here are some danger indicators our researchers recommend watching for when searching for a remote job:

1. In exchange for relatively little effort, the job listing promises a handsome salary.
2. The “recruiter” may tell you that they discovered your profile on a popular and widely-used job-searching website.
3. Scammers may send you to a well-designed but fake website that looks like the real company’s site (with the same logo, language, and even recruiter names you’d find on the real company’s careers website). The only thing different? The wrong website address).
4. The “employer’s” email address is a generic one, such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail.
5. Scammers may ask you to interview through instant messaging programs like Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or Skype, but some will do phone interviews instead.
6. Early on in the interview process, you can be asked for personal information such as your Social Security number, bank account, home address, phone number, date of birth, etc.
7. Scammers may make you an offer for a job straight away or very fast after a short interview, and they may then pressure you to take the position immediately so that you don’t have time to consider things over.
8. Scammers utilize formal or poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
9. The “employer” will ask for your bank or financial information in order to make an upfront payment, which is supposed to cover the cost of any necessary training, equipment, or software for the job.

There are real opportunities for working remotely, but you need to do your due diligence to avoid getting sucked into a scam and to choose the position that best suits your needs. Keep this article in mind the next time you go on the hunt for a remote job, and you’ll be set.