4DP

This company offers various work at home business opportunities and wealth building offers. Advertisements associated with this company tout projected earnings claims of over $25,000. Respondents are asked for an advance fee to receive a start up package, and in some cases, books of postage stamps. One offer made by the company asks for $49.98 and a book of stamps for information on a wealth building offer but fails to disclose details of how money is actually made. Our research indicates that respondents receive only a website address, www.DFWbid.com, (an online auction site) and instructions on how to buy gift cards for a penny, then re-sell them.

We advise not sending any money to this company. If an ad seems too good to be true, it probably is. Talented individuals can use an advertisement or web page to create a company that looks very legitimate. Many questionable work-at-home offers are also perpetrated through classified advertising. No matter where you find classified ads online, you are likely to find some false and misleading claims. For example, some classified ads promote quick and easy get rich ventures, traditional pyramid schemes, or the basic chain letter scenario. Traditional work-at-home schemes, such as making handicrafts or stuffing envelopes, have been replaced by offers to use your home PC to make money fast in your spare time. Con artists who previously touted scams through newspapers, U.S. mail and telemarketing are using computers to reach potential victims. They can sit at their keyboard and reach hundreds of thousands of people, pretty much for free, in a short period of time. Getting a phony ad or message out is now cheap and easy. To evaluate tempting, on-line solicitations which offer a chance to earn money by working at home, follow the same signals that tip you off to potential frauds in print and other media.

Watch out for warning signs to questionable online advertising, such as overstated claims of product effectiveness, use of hype titles, exaggerated claims of potential earnings, profits, or part-time earnings, or claims of “inside” information. Also, be leery of offers which require money for instructions or merchandise before telling you how the plan operates, or if they tell you that no experience is necessary. Anyone victimized by work-at-home offers over the Internet can file a complaint online or off-line with Business Consumer Alliance. Consumers who remain silent allow others to be swindled by these fraudulent operators.