Columbia Career Institute

We advise against sending money to companies making these kind of offers. Most advertise on the Internet, via email, or in the help wanted sections of newspapers and other publications. The companies placing the ads are not hiring anyone. Their actual business is deceptive advertising designed to entice the public to send fees to get started. Addresses given are usually mail drops, advertised phone numbers reach recordings and calls are not returned, and no local phone numbers are listed. Most work-at-home companies advertise in states other than where they are located so as to avoid prosecution.

Complaints about other companies engaging in similar types of businesses generally allege that once money is sent, respondents fail to receive the promised employment. Some complain that the company does nothing more than advise them to place the same kind of ad in their own local papers. In other cases, customers receive nothing from the company. Most of these offers are made in conjunction with a money-back guarantee, but our experience is that few customers are able to obtain refunds despite the guarantee.


This company purports to offer a WPS (Web Promotion Specialist) Certification program enabling purchasers to work from home for major corporations. The work that web promotion specialists do involves typing articles that reference the products and services of the companies they work with. Websites associated with this company tout projected earnings claims of $50,000 to $125,000 per year. Respondents are asked for an advance fee of $499 for course materials. We advise not sending any money to this company. On-line users need to be careful when browsing the Internet and responding to unsolicited offers. If an ad seems too good to be true, it probably is. Talented individuals can use a Web Page to create a company that looks very legitimate, but just because an ad looks legitimate on the computer screen, is no reason to assume it is.

Many questionable work-at-home offers are 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 Traditional work-at-home schemes, such as making handicrafts or stuffing envelopes, have been replaced by offers to use your home PC to make money fast in your spare time.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 their Better Business Bureau. Consumers who remain silent allow others to be swindled by these fraudulent operators.