The truth about work at home data entry jobs

I decided to investigate a data entry ad because I’ve looked into them in the past myself and have found them to all be extremely similar. While there are companies that hire people to do data entry work from their homes, most of them don’t post ads on the Internet.  Hopefully, this post will make you think twice before clicking on them!

EARN $3,500 WEEKLY!
Data Entry Workers Needed Online Immediately! Work from Home!
Guaranteed Income! No Experience Necessary.
Register Online Today!
www.imnotlistingtherealwebsite.com/

If I can earn $3,500 weekly doing data entry, I’m sorry to say that this will be my last blog post. Who needs to work this hard when you can earn that kind of money typing?

So, this sounds too good to be true. Let’s take a look at what the website says.

Here are the highlights from the website:

Attention – Looking for the perfect work at home job? Look no further! This is it!
“Worldwide DATA ENTRY NEEDED! $250-$1,000 Per Day!”

Start Earning In Under 30 Minutes By Simply Filling In The Blanks!

Oh and did I mention it’s easy to do?

Next there is a glowing testimonial that claims, “I made over $7,000 in the first two weeks!”. Yep, that’s $3,500 per week alright. We’ll see when I sign up how much I make.

Under the glowing testimonial is a note from the site owner. The headline claims:

START EARNING $1,000 EVERY SINGLE DAY – STARTING TODAY!!!

Now, wait a minute. I thought I could earn up to $3,500 per week. I can’t claim that math is my strongest subject, but I do know that $1,000 per day would add up to $7,000 per week. Then, two sentences later it says

“I own and operate SomeDataEntryCompany, a business where you could make $250-$1,000 or more per day, just by typing at home for Internet companies!.

I found myself wondering which it was, $250 per day? $1,000 per day? Or the $500 per day that was claimed in the ad? I’m really confused now. Well, even $250 a day would certainly pay some bills, right?

I was glad to find the next bit which explained exactly what it was I would be doing:

I can’t stress enough how easy (this business) is to run. I mean it’s A-B-C easy. Anyone can do it. Just follow my simple instructions and you will quickly and easily make thousands of dollars per week.

1. Login to your account.
2. Enter the data I provide you with.
3. Submit data.
4. REPEAT steps 2 to 3!

One of the fishiest marketing ploys on this website was this:

This is a limited offer. Due to the overwhelming response I have very few spots left. When the remaining spots are all filled, I may no longer be able to accept new DATA ENTRY POSITIONS. I apologize in advance to anyone who cannot participate.

DATA ENTRY POSITIONS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE!

“Urgent Update: I will only accept the next 3 Participants that register online by Midnight, August 29th, 2006″

– this is done using a script that automatically inserts today’s date. Look, I can do it too…

Read this report quick, because this issue will disappear from the web by Midnight July 29, 2009!

Now, come back tomorrow and it will have tomorrow’s date on it. Nifty, huh?

So I read their FAQ’s. Here are some of the highlights:

Q. WHY MUST I PAY A REGISTRAION FEE? (Note the spelling error, seems like this site was thrown up in a hurry.) A. I receive hundreds of inquiries for home data entry positions every single day. Poistions (Another spelling error) are very limited so I must be certain you are serious about working from home. Anyone serious enough to register now is guaranteed to make the cost of their registration fee back immediately.

Please. Positions are limited? I’ll bet that if this company is still in business 3 years from now, it will still say that “positions are limited”.

This is from the disclaimer and I found it to be of particular interest:

[Company Name] offers a money making opportunity, NOT an offer of employment. Business opportunity/Employment advertising regulations permits charging advance fees to cover the cost of registration, applications, screening and processing.

Yet, on the very top of the main page of the website, in big bold letters is:

Attention – Looking for the perfect work at home job? Look no further! This is it!

Further on in the disclaimer is this:

Examples in these materials are not to be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of earnings. Earning potential is entirely dependent on the person using our product, ideas, techniques and the effort put forth. We do not purport this as a “get rich scheme.”

Now, looking again at the main page they are telling me that I can make $1,000 per day. $30,000 per month sounds like getting rich quick to me.

Well, before I sign up and pay my *gulp* $97 fee I want to make sure I understand their refund policy. At first glance, it’s pretty confusing:

60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!!!

I want you to be as confident as I am. But in case you have any lingering doubts whatsoever, I want to make it foolproof for you.You see, I completely guarantee your satisfaction — not for 30 days… Not for 60 days… But for an entire 3 months!

Note that the big, bold headline says 60 days, but then right below it says 90 days. Now in the next paragraph it says,

You see, I completely guarantee your satisfaction — not for 30 days… But for an entire 60 days!

So, now we’re back to 60 days. Oh, I just saw this in the P.S.S. at the bottom of the page:

Even if you cancel and ask for a refund… even if it’s the very last day of the 3 months following registration…

Now we’re back to 90 days. Hmmm..I wonder which it is. Lets take another look at the disclaimer:

1.1) Products purchased that are downloadable or include downloadable products are NOT refundable. Products purchased that are not downloadable (CD, Diskette, or Hard Printed Versions) may be returned for a full credit, minus shipping and handling charges of $10.00. However, before any product may be returned, the customer must return to (The Company) a “Refund Claim Form”. The “Return Claim Form” will be provided to the customer after the customer informs (The Company) that they need such form. To obtain a refund, you must notify (The Company) within 7 days of your original purchase date, that you desire a refund for the product purchased. 1.2) The “Refund Claim Form” provided to you must be returned to DLG by regular mail only (no e-mail), within 7 days, in order to obtain a refund.

Not knowing whether I’m about to order a “downloadable” product or a “non-downloadable” product, I have no idea which one of these applies to me. I do know one thing: In order to get a refund, I have to submit my claim form within 7 days of my purchase. Not 60 days, not 90 days, 7 DAYS. Here’s the other really interesting thing about this. Read this part again:

To obtain a refund, you must notify (The Company) within 7 days of your original purchase date, that you desire a refund for the product purchased.

So, have to request the form, wait for it to arrive (in the mail presumably), fill it out and then be sure it’s received in the mail by the company all before 7 days are up?? That seems almost impossible to accomplish, especially for anyone living outside of the U.S.

My goodness, look at this:

1.5) Fraudulent Credit Card Charges or Fraudulent Claims – All requests to negate charges are investigated by our technical department and legal department. If you make a fraudulent claim of unauthorized card usage, we will report this to the credit card services. This report may result in cancellation of your card services, put negative information on your credit report, and create possible criminal charges that may be filed against you.

That sounds like a threat to me. People have a right to request a chargeback if a company refuses to honor their refund policy. Although they’re threatening those who make fraudulent claims of unauthorized card use, the way it’s worded would certainly make anyone think twice about requesting a chargeback.

I submitted my questions regarding their refund policy through their contact form at the website (there’s no phone number). Wow! I’ve already received a response! Big surprise, it’s an automatically generated response. There is a link where I can go for further assistance. Ok, we’ll see how long it takes. The first message said it would be up to 48 hours before I get a response.

Well, I’m going to have to wait until I get some clarification on that refund policy before I plunk down the $97. That money could buy a lot of groceries! My next post will reveal the company response and my experience as a data entry operator.

Tags: Scams, work at home jobs