I know the economy is bad. I know a lot of people are losing their jobs and people are getting desperate. But this is really getting ridiculous. I sell a lot of stuff on-line through various sites, and have a website for my Avon business that people can order directly through. But in the last month I must have gotten about 50+ spams and/or scams as a result of my on-line businesses. I mean seriously, folks, do you think anyone would really fall for some of these things. My favorite was someone who contacted my Avon business and wanted to order probably about $200 worth of product but couldn’t order directly from my website because she didn’t have internet. Uh? You don’t have internet, but yet you found my name through an on-line search and emailed me. How stupiddo you think I am? DUH? Or the one just this morning that supposedly lives in Puerto Rico and wants to order Avon from me to re-sell in her cosmetics store, but has to send me a money order to pay for everything including shipping. Uh? If this is a legitimate request #1 sign up to sell Avon yourself , or #2 find a local Avon rep, and not have to pay for shipping from Connecticut to Puerto Rico.
And to all the spammers on Craigslist, if I wanted you to send me your “business” opportunities I wouldn’t have checked “it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests” when I originally posted my ad. I feel for the folks at Craigslist because they’re probably getting a lot of negative feedback right now. I’ve probably reported at least 30 different emails in the last month for spamming. They are hosting a great site only to have some abuse the system. I love Craigslist. I love the idea of being able to post a free ad to local people and getting rid of some of the stuff that has acumlated in my house. My fear is that the Craigslist host will start charging for ads in an effort to curtail the spamming that’s infected the site.
To those poor fools that fall for any of these scams, my best advise – just walk away. Hit the delete key once you realize it’s not a legitimate inquiry to what you’re selling. Don’t respond. Report them if you’d like, but then just walk away. There are a lot of legitimate work / business opportunities out there, but there’s an equal number of scams. Research anything and everything before you get involved with it. And never, ever pay someone for a work at home position. If it’s a legitimate business opportunity, and you’ve researched it, there probably will be some upfront costs. But if it’s a legitimate work at home position – you’ll be working for someone – do not pay for it. After searching for the last 4 years for legitimate work at home/business opportunities, these are the lessons I’ve learned, sometimes the hard way.
