Work at Home

Schemes, Scams, Frauds.

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Fraudulent Work- At- Home Schemes


Work at Home as Phone Actors/Actresses for SEX LINES / PSYCHIC HOTLINES

With suggestive or generically obscure names such as Lip Service, North Star Guild, TnT Central, Brownwood Ltd, Teleglobal, Destiny4Pleasure, thisnthatcompany and Miss Mercedes Ladies, the adult phone line business promises to pay you for talking the pants off other people.

The trouble is you may be the one to have to find these people and drive them to the site, then you need to get them to pay for the service. You are also expected to purchase calling cards and/or call the customer on your dime for a top pay of 30 cents a minute.

In addition AT&T is getting out of a major part of the pay-for-service telephone business, dealing a serious blow to psychics, sex lines and other companies that use 900 numbers. They stopped providing billing services for new 900 customers as of 01/02, and will discontinue billing for all such numbers on Dec. 31. The tawdry reputation of some 900 services and its affect on AT&T's image may have played a part.

Tips and comments from promoters include:

"Do you have a charming personality and love to talk with interesting people? Do you desire to earn a great income performing a fun and easy job right from the comfort of your own home?

If you answered "yes" to all of the questions above, then this is the job for you! Northstar Communications desperately needs telephone actors and actresses to provide entertaining conversation to our European clients. We prohibit all sexual-oriented conversation. We are not associated with any adult entertainment industry. Our chat lines are only open to nice, honest conversation.

Compensation for this position is WONDERFUL!! You can earn a minimum of $670 per week! You are only required to work any 5 days out of a 7 day week and talk a minimum of 240 minutes a day. The best part about working for us is, there is NO investment or start-up fees of any kind.

Nevertheless, if you have spectacular voice talent and desire to work from home, send an e-mail to..."

"The newest Adult Phone Chat line out there is owned by two women who are not only out there to make money themselves but to provide a stable, fun and stress free work environment for both men and women."

"Remember to always protect yourself and your privacy. You make the decision regarding the type of method used to receive these calls."

"Pre-Paid Calling Cards can be purchased at local gas stations, Walmarts, or other discount stores. (Shop for the card with the best per minute rate, we use cards that have a 1 cent per minute rate. You may have to do some shopping to find this one but they do exist.)

"Purchase an 800 service for your home phone. These require that you pay the rate that the 800 company sets forth out of your pay. We are not responsible for your phone bill."

"You can use your home phone to call the client, again you are responsible for your own phone bill. Check with your company regarding long distance rates. We are not responsible for your phone bill. Also, make certain that you know how to use call block so that the person you are calling cannot trace the call back to you. If you have a cell phone with unlimited minutes and long distance, you can use this as well if you like."

"For the most part, you are expected to "play around" on ICQ and try to get people to call you.  You can use AOL, Yahoo, personal ads or whatever else you like."

"We charge $35 for 15 minute phone meetings and $55 for 30 minute phone meetings.  Your pay is these amounts less $10 ($25 and $45).   Most "phone sex" sites will only pay half the amount charged to the client."

"You will have a listing as a Mistress or Miss on the mainpage, your own webpage and a "pro" email account."

"This job requires reps to answer incoming calls directed by the main computer and interact with customers by using their computer screen scripts. All reps are independent contractors, and work on a per call/minute basis, and are paid only for their talk time, with additional incentives (Bonuses) for outstanding performance."

"Seeking EXPERIENCED psychic professional counselors in all areas of divination: Tarot, Astrology, Karma cards, Angel Cards, Numerology, Runes, ETC! All Wiccans and other spiritual groups are encouraged to join us! Applicant MUST bear a TRUE psychic/intuitive GIFT (no acting nor fabrication). $13/hour."


Some cautionary notes and observations from past participants.

"It is definitely sex talk, but for the money, I can talk about almost anything on the phone."

"Most times it is about sex, not just a nice woman to chat with. But it's a game. If you want to work the psychic lines for $9-12 bucks an hour, go for it, but if you want to act you can make $16.80 an hour."

"The lady next door knows I work at home. She has no idea what I do because I just tell people I work for a marketing company and I have to be on the phone and the computer a lot. One day I was in the bathroom doing a call and "Billy Bob, get your ass up here for dinner" was yelled into my window right into my phone."

"Many companies will promise you you will get busy, but then hire tons of girls so no one can make a living except for the owners of the line."

"As soon as they want $$$ for info, the right to work, or whatever........forget about it!"

"If anyone is interested in doing phone sex, with Brownwood Ltd. you have no need for a second phone line in your home, no costs to start, and the calls are routed to you, you don't have to run up an outrageous phone bill. www.BrownwoodLtd.com"

"I had a 900# for which I paid 300 bucks and I got scammed. When I called my own 900# I was told to hang up and dial someone else's number."

"They run ads very late at night. If they have two or three hundred people call wanting a reading, then they have to have two or three hundred people sitting by their phones, all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the middle of the night. The calls quickly taper off, and though you make three dollars and fifty cents for a ten minute reading, they only give you seven per cent, I cannot be bothered to stay up late for such wages."

"The money is so low that anyone who can read cards can work at a coffee shop or a restaurant, split the take with the owner, and do better in one day than this paid in a whole month."

"I thought it would be good when I was working around the house. You can't do anything else, take a bath, wash the dishes, walk the dog, because you have to be professional when that phone starts ringing."

"The whole ICQ thing just sounds like another way to say "troll for customers using AOL Instant Messaging".  Just another scam that wants you to waste YOUR time finding clients and spend YOUR money talking to them...."

"Sounds like there are different chats we can do with the client we don't have to do anything we aren't comfortable with. Depending on the block time we get a percentage of the pay paid everyday via Paypal and also once a week pay sent to our house."

"I bought a phone card for 10 bucks, it was calls for a penny a minute with an access fee per call of 25 cents. I had 2 callers for 30 minutes the one day, got paid the next and went and bought another card."

"I have seen actress/actor jobs were you have to get your own 1-800 numbers so they can call you and you have to scout your own clients. When I see those I just move on."

"If there is a guarantee that clients are ready and willing to pay $30 for 15 minutes of chat time and I can get a calling card for 0.01/min then 100 minutes of talking could be very lucrative. Time will tell!"

"Regardless of how many calls you take, your pay reflects the average amount of time you kept callers on the line. If your average hold time is under 8 minutes you get paid 12 cents per minute. The only way to get paid 30 cents a minute is for you to have an average of 10 minutes."

"You can't force these men who are ready to climax to hold on for 10 minutes. Though some who just call to talk last about 15 minutes, the others that last 2 or 3 always brings the average down."

"Conversion is the % of people you talk to that turn around and call the 900# AND stay on past the free minutes."

"I have looked into the psychic lines which are an absolute rip off. You have a script so you are ripping off these people that are calling in thinking this is going to help them."


Envelope Stuffing Frauds

"Steady income for minimal labor - earn $2 each time you fold a brochure and seal it in an envelope! Send $20 for more details."

Envelope-stuffing frauds usually begin with such an ad in the Business Opportunities section of a newspaper or magazine. The headline usually jumps out at you.

"We'll pay you 25 cents for each envelope you stuff and return to us" "Earn $250 for stuffing 1,000 envelopes while watching TV."

Such advertisements are deceptive and misleading and should simply be ignored or reported to authorities. When you respond to their earn-money stuffing-envelope pitch you envision that the company making the offer will send you brochures which you will fold, stuff into envelopes, seal and return to the company for which you will receive payment of 25 cents each.

But that's not the way the scheme works. In order to receive any information you will have to send them some sort of initial non-returnable payment, usually between $10 and $25. By return mail you receive some information and an agreement form which you are asked to read and sign.

The information packet starts with their suggestion that you place an ad in your local newspaper which reads: "Address and Mail commission circulars at home and be flooded with offers. For offer and details rush stamped, self-addressed envelope and 25 cents service fee" to a particular address. Here you are asked to insert your name. You are also expected to pay for the classified ad.

When work-hungry consumers in your area read your ad and respond, you "stuff" the self-addressed envelope your victims sent to you into a larger envelope and return it to the company. As promised, they let you keep the enclosed 25 cents for each one you send, as payment, but you must pay the postage for anything you send to them.

So in order to make any money yourself you must pay for classified ads and bilk more consumers out of a quarter, a stamp and the time they spent responding to your advertisement. Envelope stuffing schemes are essentially pyramid schemes or chain letters combined with a "how-to" element.

These ads are targeting housebound people of limited means, such as mothers with young children and the disabled who find the convenience of working out of the house very attractive.

One con who charged from $10 to $45 for info on how to earn good money working at home, stuffing envelopes and stapling booklets, managed to defraud about $200,000 from thousands of people from around the country.

Being charged in a criminal information with two counts of mail fraud means he has waived indictment by a federal grand jury. A criminal information is considered the prelude to a guilty plea. People who requested refunds got either no response or checks that bounced.


These business opportunities make it sound easy to start a business that will bring in lots of income without much work or cash outlay. The solicitations trumpet unbelievable earnings claims of $140 a day, $1,000 a day, or more, and claim that the business doesn’t involve selling, meetings, or personal contact with others, or that someone else will do all the work.


Scam Example

JOB DESCRIPTION; Processing Specialist, 

This position is done over the internet and involves processing e-mail orders, for software, from your home office. Each order must be processed promptly and copied to a  3.5 diskette. This will involve working 2 - 4 hours per day, however you may choose to work more. At least 15 hours per week is required.

Full training will be provided, including; software that is downloaded to your computer, an information packet, and a duplication license. This information will teach you how to receive and process the orders. The software and information are free but, we need to ask for a $7.95 USD postage and handling charge. There will be no other charges to you. It is not necessary to send by priority, express, certified or registered mail.

JOB REQUIREMENTS; No experience is necessary, however you must be self-motivated and self-disciplined. You will need a PC, printer of good quality  and an e-mail account. Job is open to US residents only.

YOUR PAY; You can make $12.00 - $15.00  per order completed by check to your home office. It will take less than one hour to complete an order.

APPLY FOR PROCESSING SPECIALIST; send your info and  the postage and handling fee, (money order or check, please no cash) to; Online Resource PO Box 270572 Milwaukee, WI 53227

As a bonus, you can download several documents and use them in addition to your software to help you with a Home Office Career. Have a great day, Online Resource 10/07/02 expage.com/onlineresources


"How-To" Get Caught

An FTC induced settlement showed that more than 85,000 consumers nationwide lost about $4 million to U.S. Hotline, Inc. which did business as U.S. Car Buyers Alliance, U.S. Job Finders and U.S. Publishers Advocates, marketers of three "money-making" schemes. Most consumers are lucky to be getting back about $50, which represents full refunds of their losses.

The FTC had charged the defendants with deceptively promoting a series of "guides", for $20 to $50 each, that supposedly explained how to buy government-seized cars at "giveaway prices," or how to find work-at-home jobs that involved reading manuscripts or books, or performing piece-work.

They misrepresented their refund policies, the profits or earnings you could make, and numerous other aspects of the schemes. In addition to the refunds they are barred from making the same or similar misrepresentations regarding any publications, products or services they market in the future.

The companies are all out of business at this time. The FTC won a court order freezing their assets and appointed a receiver. The refunds are being distributed to those who filed written complaints or who mailed in a claim form sent to all of their customers.

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