42-to-1 Scam Ratio in Internet Work-At-Home Job Ads, Reports Staffcentrix; “Ratio Growing 50% Per Year”

Fueled by the growing demand for telework and telecommuting solutions, the ratio of scams to legitimate job leads has jumped 40% in 10 months. With 78M baby boomers turning 60 this year, the demand for home-based work -- and the number of scams -- is expected to skyrocket, Staffcentrix says.

Woodstock, CT (PRWEB) October 26, 2006 –– A daunting 42-to-1 "scam ratio" in online work-at-home job leads is costing Americans millions of dollars annually and turning the online environment into a "jobhunting minefield," reports home-based career experts Staffcentrix. Moreover, the ratio is growing at an estimated 50% per year.

The rising ratio of scams and its daunting growth rate came to light through Staffcentrix' ongoing research into online work-at-home employment and freelance leads, which the company undertakes weekly for its popular bulletin, the "Rat Race Rebellion."

"The US just marked a population of 300M, and although scams are international, Americans in particular are sick of the toll that gridlocked commutes and longer workweeks are taking on themselves and their families," says Michael Haaren, Staffcentrix COO and editor of the "Rat Race Rebellion." "People want to work from home – half of all US businesses are home-based, the US Census just reported – or nearby with their laptop at Starbucks, as 30M are doing already."

Staffcentrix CEO Christine Durst, herself scheduled to present at the Aging Workforce Summit in Chicago this week ( http://www.agwsummit.com ), predicts that the high proportion of scams will only increase as aging professionals, too, seek to work from home. "This year, as AARP points out, 78M baby boomers will turn 60," says Durst. "Boomers are the last to want to be seen as 'obsolete' or 'passed by.' Millions will want to continue working, and the preferred place will be home. The scammers know this, and will be waiting."

Work-at-home scams consistently appear in the Federal Trade Commission's "Top Ten" complaints, and in 2005, Internet-related complaints made up 46% of all fraud complaints it received, the Commission reported.

"'Work at home' is no longer the secondary concept it once was," Haaren notes. "The plethora of names used to describe the trend – telework, telecommuting, homeshoring, distributed work, and so on – attest to its spread. However, these labels are trailing indicators. If you want to know what's happening right now, and where we're headed, the scam ratio is a good place to look."

Staffcentrix also reports a rise in work-from-home ads distributed as spam, which Durst herself contends with daily. "I used to receive two to three each day," she says. "Now it's 20-30, and most of them are either dubious, or clearly dishonest."    

The scams Staffcentrix sees most often are envelope stuffing, data entry positions (often requiring payment for a list of stale "leads"), and funds processing, whereby the victim is induced to transfer personal funds in exchange for a bogus "cashier's check" written for a larger amount.

Despite the growth in scams, Haaren notes that legitimate home-based leads are growing as well. "We're seeing increasing breadth and depth across many skill sets," he says. "Opportunities in teaching, translation, concierge services, writing, IT, nonprofits – those are all strong – but now the Fortune 500 companies are also offering home-based jobs. IBM, American Express, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman – these are just a few we've seen over the past year. These are exciting times for virtual workers," Haaren adds, "and cell phone and desktop videoconferencing will soon make the 'place' of work functionally irrelevant."

About Staffcentrix
Staffcentrix is a leading advocate of home-based, virtual careers as a platform for individual growth and stronger family life, and a leading provider of virtual-work training and resources to the US Armed Forces and the Department of State. Its co-founders, Christine Durst and Michael Haaren, authored the bestselling book for Virtual Assistants and other freelancers, "The 2-Second Commute," and appear often in the media as experts on virtual careers and related issues. For further information, please see http://www.staffcentrix.com.

Contact:
Michael D. Haaren, COO
Staffcentrix, LLC
Email: mhaaren (at) staffcentrix.com
Tel. 703-333-2927

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