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Legitimate work-at-home business or scam?

Ever wondered about those work-at-home jobs that are advertised everywhere? They can be found in newspapers, on the Internet and even on TV.

Wondering if they really have the potential for a solid income? Well, I’ll admit it: I was intrigued and decided to put it to the test.

I came across an ad online looking for people working from home to answer surveys. The only requirement was to have a computer and you could be well on your way to a fantastic paying job.

When I answered the ad I was sent an e-mail stating that I could make hundreds of dollars a week taking surveys at my leisure from large well-known companies. How much money would be made would be determined by the number of surveys completed.

When I visited the Web site, I saw logos from Coca-Cola, Sony, Nike, Dell, Pepsi and Panasonic, with statements testifying that these companies need survey takers. It looked pretty interesting, to say the least.

Only one drawback: I was asked to pay the reduced price of $39.95 instead of $79.95 to get a complete list of the companies looking for survey takers. I was guaranteed a 30-day money-back guarantee.

I decided that I would try it and see for myself. After accepting the offer sign up for surveys, I immediately received about ten other offers to purchase books, tapes and even other programs like envelope stuffing, answering e-mails and data entry. After hitting “no thanks” to all I was directed to PayPal’s Web site for payment.

After payment was acknowledged I was instructed to set up a new e-mail account through Yahoo or Hotmail and provided with that “well guarded” list of companies. From that point all I had to do was register with as many companies as I wanted to and voilà, I could be making money immediately.

The Web site instructions reminded that the more links signed up for, the more money could be made. I signed up for the top 10 companies. Within minutes I was receiving invitations to enroll and several of the companies gave an enrollment bonus of $5.

Now here is the interesting part: when enrolling, the Web sites state that all information (name, address, phone number and the like) must be included. After putting my correct phone number on several of the sites I decided I would put a false one in the event I started getting phone calls.

Once on the survey Web sites there is tons of junk that includes offers for free cash and prizes that are filtered through until at last a survey is reached.

After spending 10 minutes on one site, I finally came to a survey and halfway through was asked how often I smoke. When I answered I didn’t, the words “Sorry, you do not qualify for this survey” appeared.

Several other surveys were available and out of five of them I qualified to take two.

I was determined to at least make my $39.95 back. After three hours taking surveys, wading through junk and offers for discounts, I finally decided that I had had enough.

I wanted to collect the $9 that I had made so far so I hit the payment link. Much to my surprise and irritation, a message came back that said I needed to make $30 before I could collect anything.

At this point I was totally aggravated and decided this was definitely not for me. I e-mailed MakeMoneyTakingSurveys.com and asked for a refund.

Of course, when I first went back on the Web site the offer to make money appeared. I clicked the “no thanks” box and another box came up offering $17 to enroll (so much for my reduced rate).

I did receive a full refund along with a survey (yes, another one) asking me what they could to do to improve customer satisfaction.

Bottom line: unless you want to spend hours – and I literally mean hours – going through discount offers, game offers and prize offers to find a survey, don’t bother.

However, if this is something that appeals to you, go for it. Just remember, this is not a get-rich-quick deal, nor are there free “signups,” as many sites claim.

Once logged on to any of these sites, potential survey takers are urged to upgrade and pay a fee to receive premier companies. So as the saying goes, you don’t get something for nothing.

One last note: I never did find any surveys for the companies advertised on the Web site. Currently I have more than 600 e-mails offering surveys, prizes, discounted items and, yes, spam in my Yahoo account and the number keeps growing.

Oh, and let’s not forget the late evening phone calls asking me to get free grant money and or purchase items. Think my next call is to Verizon to have call intercept put back on.

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