It’s fairly astonishing that scammers are nonetheless selling stuffing envelopes as a legit earn a living from home job.
I can let you know firsthand that stuffing envelopes for money is a rip-off.
How do I do know? A very long time in the past, I fell sufferer to the rip-off of stuffing envelopes.
You see, once I was in school, I labored part-time ready tables. Nonetheless, though I made good cash, between my class schedule and learning, I might solely work a couple of shifts per week. So, you may think about my pleasure when I discovered a flyer on a bulletin board at college promoting envelope stuffer jobs.
The flyer claimed I might make $2.00 per envelope, all whereas working from the consolation of my residence.
I instantly began calculating what number of envelopes I might stuff in between lessons and the way a lot extra cash I’d make per week; my life was going to be a lot simpler!
The flyer instructed me to ship them a $12.00 upfront payment for the knowledge on tips on how to get began. I used to be so excited in regards to the alternative that I neglected the pink flags, like sending the cost to an nameless P.O. Field or the exceeding excessive pay charges for entry-level work.
I waited for weeks for the knowledge to reach. When it lastly did, I anxiously ripped open the envelope to be taught that this so-called envelope-stuffing job was a pyramid rip-off.
The letter informed me to advertise the identical rip-off that I had simply fallen for by inserting a need advert for envelope stuffers. Then, when folks reply to your advert, ship them the identical bogus info on tips on how to replicate the rip-off.
I used to be so disenchanted.
This was not a job. It was unethical info on tips on how to rip-off folks out of cash. Fortunately, I solely misplaced $12.00.
Is the Stuffing Envelopes Rip-off Nonetheless Round Immediately?
Sadly, I nonetheless see scams associated to stuffing envelopes on the web and numerous social media websites, besides the fee for this bogus info is often $50-$150! This previous 12 months, the rip-off has advanced into the “letter writing” aspect hustle, the place you may supposedly earn $5 for every handwritten letter you write to firms.
With this letter-writing scheme, they entice folks with massive earnings for little to no work, however to get the knowledge on how to do that, you will need to buy a dear course. The knowledge then particulars tips on how to write handwritten letters to casinos to earn as much as $5 in on line casino credit. The credit that you simply earn should not money; they’re credit that you must use to gamble on-line, and everyone knows playing shouldn’t be a dependable strategy to earn cash.
So why are so many individuals on social media selling this letter-writing gig as a reputable alternative? As a result of they’re associates for the course, they usually earn money every time, somebody purchases the course from them. It’s similar to the rip-off of stuffing envelopes, so don’t fall for this fraud!
In Tory Johnson’s ebook, “Will Work from Residence,” she checks these pretend on-line jobs with a couple of completely different firms, and none of them ever panned out. In her ebook, she says: “Recruiting folks to stuff envelopes is the oldest earn a living from home gimmick that fools folks daily. Don’t be one in every of them”.
Each the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) and the Higher Enterprise Bureau (BBB) have alerts on their web sites warning folks of this rip-off. In reality, the United States Postal Service (USPS) says that stuffing envelopes is the commonest work from home rip-off (the opposite is packing scams).
And if you concentrate on it, why would an organization that wants envelopes stuffed use a person for this job once they can use a machine that folds, inserts, and seals 1,320 envelopes in a single hour? There is no such thing as a manner a human can work that quick, and no firm pays excessive {dollars} for this unskilled job.
Are There Any Authentic Envelope-Stuffing Jobs?
Sometimes, on websites like LinkedIn, Monster, Glassdoor, and Certainly, you’ll run into an advert for a legit envelope stuffer job. Nonetheless, it’s often an unpaid volunteer place the place you go into an workplace and assist a charity stuff envelopes for his or her fundraiser. Different occasions, you’ll see in-person job openings for receptionists, knowledge entry and mailroom clerks, and customer support representatives, the place stuffing envelopes is a small a part of their job duties. And these positions often pay $13-$20 per hour, not $2-$10 per envelope!
Usually, you’re not going to seek out earn a living from home jobs the place you’ll stuff envelopes as a part of your job duties, as sending large quantities of letters, envelopes, and postage stamps to a employee’s residence can be cost-prohibitive to the employer.
What Ought to You Do if You’ve Fallen for This Rip-off?
If you happen to’ve fallen for this rip-off, contact your financial institution or bank card firm and have them subject a cease cost order. If the cash is already gone, you may attempt contacting the corporate from which you bought the knowledge and request a refund. Make sure you inform them that if they don’t refund your cash, you’ll contact officers to research their operations additional.
If you happen to can’t resolve the scenario, contact the FTC (1-877-FTC-HELP) to report the difficulty. You can even contact your native US Postal Inspection Service. Since these scammers are utilizing P.O. Bins to run their rip-off operations, they are going to examine these fraudulent mail practices.
What to Watch Out for When Trying to find Work at Residence Jobs
Whenever you’re trying to find work from home jobs, you want to take your time and analysis the job alternative extensively!
Scammers know they’ll make a fast and straightforward buck by preying on folks’s vulnerabilities. What I imply by vulnerabilities is when folks wrestle to make ends meet, or they have to be at residence for a brand new child or aged guardian, there’s a sense of urgency and desperation, and these scammers know this. So, they create their pretend job listings to enchantment to those feelings.
The second motive scams are so prevalent is expertise has made it simpler than ever to distribute scams whereas hiding behind a digital curtain.
For these causes, it’s extra essential than ever so that you can educate your self on what’s legit and what’s not.
Listed here are some pink flags job seekers have to be careful for:
- Detrimental opinions and complaints on-line.
- No contact info (bodily tackle, telephone quantity, or e mail tackle) — scammers don’t wish to be discovered.
- Obscure job descriptions.
- Huge cash claims with little or no effort in your half.
- Stress to behave rapidly.
- Unsolicited job affords.
- Poor spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
- Interviews by way of messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Sign, and Messenger.
- Imposter scams – pretend firms posing as actual firms utilizing free e mail addresses like Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and Hotmail.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.
Actual-Life Work From Residence Jobs to Discover
If you happen to’re an aspiring envelope stuffer, you’re probably disenchanted that stuffing envelopes isn’t legit. Nonetheless, there are numerous different reputable earn a living from home jobs value exploring.
1. Knowledge Entry Clerk
Turning into a distant knowledge entry operator is perhaps your calling if you happen to’re a quick and correct typist with glorious written communication abilities. You’ll confirm and enter knowledge into spreadsheets and on-line databases in these roles. You may additionally be assigned different clerical duties like answering emails and on-line analysis.
To seek out reputable firms with distant job listings, try:
2. Graphic Designer
If you happen to’re expert at utilizing applications like Adobe Photoshop or Canva, you may create gadgets like logos, gross sales letters, enterprise playing cards, labels, printables, and different promotional supplies. As a graphic designer, you are able to do freelance work on a project-by-project foundation or apply for full-time jobs. Based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the common hourly fee for a graphic designer is $31.11 per hour.
Take a look at these on-line job boards for graphic design jobs:
3. On-line Tutor
If in case you have experience in a subject like math, English, biology, or nursing, you would possibly be capable of make extra cash tutoring college students on-line. There are tons of on-line platforms that join college students to lecturers in all kinds of topics. Tutoring gigs are inclined to have versatile work hours, and most gigs are unbiased contracting roles. To start out working as a tutor, you will need to show your experience by taking a preliminary examination or submitting the suitable documentation.
You’ll find on-line tutoring jobs at:
4. Transcriptionist
Transcribers hearken to audio information and transcribe (kind) them into written paperwork. Transcription jobs are usually unbiased contracting positions and require fast and correct typing abilities, glorious listening abilities, and a strong grasp of the English language. The good factor about these positions is they provide versatile scheduling, and you may often tackle as a lot or as little as you may deal with.
You’ll find on-line transcription jobs at:
5. Digital Assistant Jobs
Digital assistants, VA for brief, are expert professionals who deal with all kinds of administrative duties based mostly on the consumer’s wants. Duties could embrace scheduling, calendar upkeep, knowledge entry, writing, modifying, reserving journey, advertising, and extra. Digital assistants should be detail-oriented, have glorious communication abilities, and be glorious time handlers.
If this appears like a dream job, try:
6. Methods to Make Additional Money
If you wish to make a bit of cash in your spare time, contemplate quick job gigs, the place you may work on initiatives like AI coaching, translation, inventive writing, paid surveys, search engine analysis, and extra!
For 1099 firms to discover, try:
Authentic Options to Stuffing Envelopes
If you happen to’re nonetheless feeling uneasy about your work from home job search—try the paid membership website FlexJobs. Each single job listed on their web site is hand-screened for legitimacy. So, once you apply, you may relaxation assured that you simply gained’t fall prey to a earn a living from home rip-off. Not solely does FlexJobs have an A+ score with the Higher Enterprise Bureau, however additionally they supply a money-back assure if you happen to’re not happy.
Need extra legit earn a living from home job leads? Join my free e-newsletter, the place I ship out new vetted distant job leads twice per week.
Have you ever encountered the stuffing envelopes rip-off? What different fraudulent alternatives have you ever come throughout?
Initially revealed on March 31, 2009. Content material up to date December 2024.