PRESS RELEASE (February 2005)

Don’t be sucked in by bogus home-working schemes warns Citizens Advice

Problem solving charity Citizens Advice is warning people to be wary of bogus home-working schemes that promise good wages and flexible working, but are really scams that trick people out of their money and never deliver payment.

The words of caution come as the Office of Fair Trading continues its scams awareness month highlighting deceptive and fraudulent mass-marketed scams.

Conmen operate home-working scams by placing adverts and promotional literature in newspapers, magazines, shop windows and increasingly via email, luring in people who are attracted to the offer of good money for jobs that can be done easily from home.

These schemes often require a registration fee of up to £40 or an upfront payment to receive a starter pack. In most cases the payments disappear without trace and the firm cannot be contacted as no name or number appears in the advertisement or the number given is unobtainable.

In another twist, once work is completed and sent back to the company, it is returned as sub-standard so people will not receive any wages.

Evidence from Citizens Advice Bureaux around the country shows that home-working scams target the most vulnerable people in society, often mums and pensioners who are on low incomes and are attracted by the promise of earning some extra cash without having to go out of their homes to work.

Often people are taken in by the fact the advertisements for these home-working schemes appear in reputable magazines and papers.

In one case a CAB client from London responded to a home-working scheme with the offer of earning £500 a month. The pensioner paid a joining fee of £39.95. He received address labels but had to pay to photocopy a document and buy envelopes and stamps. He has never received payment and has been left £995 out of pocket.

In another case a client from West Yorkshire saw an advert in a national newspaper offering ‘home-working from the comfort of your own home’. She paid an initial payment of £29 for her starter pack and then a further £99. She has never heard back from the company and is unable to get through to anyone to claim back the money she has paid.

A CAB client in Bedfordshire received a letter in the post offering extra income for carrying out mail shots. She returned her work to the company and they wrote to her to say that she would not be paid, as her work was unsatisfactory. Some of the labels were not centralised and the folds in the inserts were 2mm out. She subsequently lost her £40 joining fee and the £4.56 she paid for stamps.

Citizens Advice Director of Policy Teresa Perchard said:

“These conmen prey on vulnerable individuals and promise them a solution to their problems. They offer good money for easy work, but really they rip people off and leave them out of pocket.

“A good way to tell the difference between a legitimate scheme and a scam is to ask if you are required to make an advance payment. If you are asked for money up front alarm bells should ring - avoid at all costs advertisements or firms, which ask for money before work starts. Legitimate home-working schemes will not ask you to do this.”

For advice on any home-working problems, contact any Citizens Advice Bureau. More information about home-working can be found on the home working website www.homeworking.com

For more information contact: Elise Cross 020 7833 7176 Elise.cross@citizensadvice.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1. The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more information see www.citizensadvice.org.uk

2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

3. Most Citizens Advice service staff are trained volunteers, working at around 3,200 service outlets across England and Wales.

4. Advice and information www.adviceguide.org.uk

5. Volunteer hotline 08451 264264 (local rate)

6. Citizens Advice also acts as the UK European Consumer Centre (ECC) providing advice and information helping consumers to resolve disputes within the European Union. Further information available on www.euroconsumer.org.uk

Spot that scam - this quick Citizens Advice guide will enable you to tell the difference

• Avoid at all costs advertisements or firms which ask for payment of a sum of money before work starts, or to pay for a ‘starter kit’ even before you are told what the work is.

• Avoid schemes where home-workers have to buy or rent equipment or raw materials, and then sell the finished product.

• Avoid firms whose advertisements or promotional literature give no details - such as the full name and address of the advertisers, a clear description of the work, whether you will be employed or self-employed, and the likely level of earnings. Details of any costs to the consumer should be given, and any other limitations or conditions. If you are not satisfied on these points, don’t pay any money to the firm.

  If you have already paid money into a scheme that is not delivering:

• Complain in writing to the company concerned, stating that you will take civil action through the courts if your money is not repaid. Copy your letter to your local trading standards department. They may investigate if they receive a large volume of complaints. For advice on how to take court action contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

• Complain to the Advertising Standards Authority who can investigate complaints about misleading advertising.

For advice on any home-working problems, contact any Citizens Advice Bureau.

For access to information on-line go to the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The National Group on Home-working is a campaign and lobbying organisation, which supports home-workers.

The National Group on Home-working (NGH), Office 26, 30-38 Dock Street, Leeds LS10 1JF
Tel: 0113 245 4273
Fax: 0113 246 5616
Helpline: 0800 174095
(10am-12.30pm and 1pm-3.30pm Tues-Thurs, 1pm-3.30pm Mon, and 10am-12.30pm Fri)
Helpline for Urdu and Punjabi speakers only: 0800 028 0526 (10am-12.30pm Tues and Thurs only)