It’s not surprising that thousands of people each year turn to the internet for making money from home, especially with the hundreds of thousands of ways that money can be made online. While a few of these job postings are legit, many (far more!) are fiction, and a few are identity theft scams or pyramid schemes that could cost you everything. Let’s start with the basics:

• A pyramid scheme has one person reaping a lot of rewards while each subsequent level (until you reach the “base” of the pyramid) earns less and less, with the base earning the least, but doing the most work. You’ll usually have to make an investment to get started, will be expected to sign people up to begin building your own pyramid, and normally have to sell products, services, goods, or tools in order to make money.
• Identity theft scams almost always sound too good to be true, and if more people would listen to their gut instinct when it comes to them, fewer would fall for these phishing expeditions. Never give out everything there is to identify yourself to just anyone online. Always use the weapons in your arsenal, such as website reviews by independent sources, https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/scams  or the Better Business Bureau, to ascertain the veracity of an online job opportunity before offering your CentreLink social security number, date of birth, home telephone number and address, credit card information, and similar personally identifiable information.
• Get rich quick ideas are almost always scams. If it promises you the moon with just a small investment, think again. Nothing is free in this life, and as mentioned before, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is just that. Becoming “well off” in this life takes a lot of time and effort, and unless you come into an inheritance or win a large amount of money, you’re going to have to get it the old-fashioned way—work, work, work.

Now, there are a lot of legit sources of income online for people to utilise if they want to work from home. These are great ideas for single parents or stay-at-home parents, but they’re also a viable option for retirees or to supplement a full-time job. For instance, if the cost of day-care is higher than the average pay cheque, then something like this might be a good idea.

Here are just a few of the top online job ideas that are actual ways to make money:

• Article submission websites such as www.oDesk.com,  www.articledocument.com, and similar websites offer payment for high-quality articles. Some clients are pickier than others about topics, but most are up-front regarding what they want and what timeframe they expect. The pay varies based on a lot of factors, from experience to length of the document, and is normally agreed upon before you are hired.
• Auction websites like eBay and Amazon, or Craigslist allow you to sell unwanted items for a rate that you determine. Some have widgets that help you determine a price, such as the average selling price of that type of item, but you set the price ultimately.
• Medical billing and similar job industries are opening up work-from-home positions all over the world for those with the appropriate training. These courses often last from seven months to two years, and starting salary will vary based on the company. In some cases, an experienced medical billing specialist may earn upward of $25 per hour, which is more than the average fast food service worker or clerical assistant makes.

So generating income online and working from home can be legitimate and very worthwhile.  Obviously it’s worth doing the homework and reading the fine print before you get started.  This could be your way to get on top of your finances, and who knows… it might just be your way out of a 9 to 5 job!

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