There are a number of work from home scams floating around out there, from the “Google Jobs” scam to different networking marketing scams. While there are some legitimate marketing scams, including MLM, it is important to note that you still need to be careful. You want to be careful to avoid scams that could turn your home business dream into a nightmakre.

Online Home Business Idea recommends that you take the following steps to avoid work from home network marketing scams:

* Research the company to make sure that it is established, and has a track record of several years. Check with the BBB for complaints.

* Look at the products being promoted. Are they useful? Would you want to buy the products? Be wary of products that offer some sort of “miracle”, “cure”, or “amazing money making potential”.

* Check with others who have done this, probing them for how they make their money, and proof that they are earning well.

You can never be 100% sure that something will work out. But you do need to be careful. Do your homework, and if something doesn’t feel right, or if it seems too good to be true, stay away.

You’ve probably seen those ads claiming that you can “Use Google to make 1000s of Dollars!” Those ads (which charge hefty monthly fees when you send in payment information for a “startup kit”) are the result of Pacific WebWorks, a Utah-based company that Google is taking to court. Because the company uses Google’s name and even uses the logo — or something quite similar — in some of the ads, Google feels it has a case.

Google has been the subject of a number of work from home scams, which sometimes even use Google’s own AdWords platform to get the word out. Google is trying to weed out such work from home scams (even those that don’t mention Google) from AdWords and from search engine results. Google also warned against work from home scams, and listed some companies to watch out for that use Google in their names, reports CNN Money:

Legitimate work-at-home jobs are those in which a person is paid a regular wage for services performed or hours worked, such as computer data entry, remote tech support, or transcription services. The illegitimate jobs, or “scams” as Lister refers to them, can usually be identified because they ask job seekers to put up money with the expectation of earning money back.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based Google provided other names users should be wary of: Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.

As always, it is important to remember that if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Be careful of the work from home opportunities that you engage in.

Lately, there has been some chatter surrounding a home business “opportunity” to make money with Google. There are a couple of scams associated with making money using Google. These scams include such titles as “Google hiring home workers” and mentioning that it is possible to make x amount of dollars with a system that helps you place links with Google Ads.

It is important to note that these are not sanctioned by Google. Lazy Man and Money has some insight into this Google scam. It is an interesting read. If you have some time, go read about it.

This is just another work from home scam that promises money for doing very little. And this scam is also being advertised on Twitter. (Watch out for Twitter work from home scams as well.) It is also on Facebook. Although through more sinister means. My cousin’s wife had her Facebook account hacked and messages with a “google4cash” Web site were being put up on her friends’ Facebook walls.

It just goes to show: You can’t be too careful when screening work from home jobs.