00:00
It's National Consumer Protection Week. This year we are focusing on Work-from-Home schemes
00:05
and we have a series of Public Service Announcements to tell you about these scams and how you can avoid becoming a victim.
00:12
Working from home AND getting a paycheck without commuting into an office sounds like a great deal.
00:18
In fact, there are many people doing that right now due to the pandemic.
00:23
But these work-at-home schemes are different. They promise a handsome paycheck for doing little work.
00:29
For example, stuffing envelopes and mailing them out promises a nice paycheck.
00:35
But you have to buy the supplies to begin with?
00:38
Work-at-home scams are abundant in the medical coding and billing world,
00:43
and they're frequently targeted at people who are just getting started in the field.
00:47
The majority of scams promise you a billing or coding certification in less than a month.
00:52
You can study from home! You’ll get to work from home! Just take these ten classes and you'll have a job within weeks.
01:00
If only it were that easy.
01:03
Medical billing and coding takes a long time to master.
01:06
The best way to avoid a medical billing and coding scam is to skip the shortcuts altogether.
01:12
Look for certificate or associate degree programs at your local community college or trade school.
01:17
Product assembly is another opportunity that can be a scam.
01:21
Legitimate positions are someone pays you to build things, most of the "jobs" that you’ll find online aren’t real jobs.
01:28
Instead, you can buy a startup kit that will supposedly set you up so you can start assembling products,
01:34
or you may be charged for materials you can make into products to sell.
01:38
In either case, you won’t be making money assembling products from home.
01:43
Don't waste your money buying a kit or anything else to get started, the offer is most likely a scam.
01:50
For more information on work-at home scams and other frauds, visit USPIS.gov.