WASHINGTON — Many work-from-home job opportunities seem more like scams and often are. But a growing number of work-from-home options are legitimate, according to one consumer columnist for The Washington Post.
“I interviewed a guy who used to make $30,000 [a year] as a preschool music teacher. But he took those music skills and went to the website Fiverr.com where he is writing jingles and making $30,000 a month,” said Elisabeth Leamy, who also hosts the “Easy Money” podcast.
In her latest piece, Leamy lists examples of actual work-from-home offers: Some are websites that connect freelancers to clients, such as Fiverr, and some are companies specifically offering work-from-home positions.
So what makes a work-to-home offer a scam?
“Typically, the scammers ask you for money, rather than paying you money. And that’s usually the telltale sign that a work-from-home so-called opportunity is actually a work-from-home scam,” Leamy told WTOP.
Leamy said she also interviewed another Fiverr entrepreneur who has made around $1.2 million in the last three or four years editing people’s resumes and LinkedIn pages.
And some work-from-home opportunities can include benefits. Leamy cites employers in the customer service space who hire people to work from home such as Sutherland CloudSource and Convergys.
“So there are really two kinds of modern work-from-home opportunities. The first kind, you work as a freelancer, but there are websites out there that connect you with customers,” she said. “The other kind are companies that actually hire people to work from home and hire them as employees, and in that case, you get benefits like health care, like vacation time.”
Leamy said the pull to these work-from-home opportunities include the possibility to earn more money and the freedom and flexibility of skipping the commute and staying in.
See Leamy’s full list here and listen to her full chat with WTOP’s Veronica Robinson below.
