The following are three things you can do to avoid online writing scams so you can spend your time investing in legitimate home writing opportunities.
Never “Write for free”: One of the most common online freelance writing job scams is the “writing sample” scam. The way this works is that a company will ask you to write some original content to “judge your writing ability.”
Do not be fooled. Legitimate companies would never expect you to write for free or write to spec, as it’s called in the industry. If they want you to write an original sample for them, they expect to pay for it.
So if a company expects free content, even if it’s “just a sample to judge your writing ability,” say “No thanks” and move on.
Never pay for job opportunities: Another common online freelance writing jobs scam is the pay-for-jobs scam. You are usually required to pay a membership or subscription fee to join a site in order to obtain job opportunities. This is a red flag, red flag, red flag!
I have been a freelance writer since 1993 and have paid exactly zero (0) job opportunities: zero. I don’t care how good the offer sounds or how low the rate is, don’t be fooled. Typically, you’ll be asked to sign up for a 3, 5, or 7-day trial for “just $1.95 or $2.95.”
To your surprise, a week or a month later, your card/checking account is loaded by $47 or $97, the “full membership” fee. And the kicker: this will be a recurring monthly fee. And, it may be completely impossible to get your money back because phone calls and emails will not be answered or recovered.
If this happens to you, the best thing to do is to cancel your account (yes, cancel it) and file a report with your Attorney General’s Office as well as the Better Business Bureau.
If you don’t cancel your account, you risk having your card charged month after month before you can stop it. And, the reason is, when you sign up for what you think is the low-cost 3, 5, or 7-day trial, there’s “misleading” language in the fine print that gives thieves the right to bill you for recurring form. .
Just never pay for online freelance writing jobs, ever, and you’ll avoid this problem altogether.
Do your research: The internet is your best friend when researching online freelance writing opportunities. Before you invest in any opportunity, free or low cost, educate yourself. Freelance writers are notorious for reporting scams and scammers.
Even a nominal amount of research will reveal real opportunity online freelance writing job scams in freelance writing, if you take the time to search.
