Online Freelance Writing Jobs: 3 Ways to Avoid Fraudulent Ones

Following are three things you can do to avoid online writing scams so you can spend your time investing in legitimate write-from-home opportunities.

Never “Write for Free”: One of the most common online freelance writing jobs scam is the “writing sample” scam. The way this works is, a company will request that you write and original piece of content for them to “judge your writing ability.”

Don’t fall for it. Legitimate companies would never expect you to write for free, or write on spec as it’s called in the industry. If they want you to write an original sample for them, they fully expect to pay for it.

So if a company expects content for free, even if it is “just a sample to judge your writing ability,” say “No thanks” and move on.

Never Pay for Job Leads: Another common online freelance writing jobs scam is the paying for job leads scam. Usually, you’re asked to pay membership or subscription fee to join a site and be able to get job leads. This is a red flag, red flag, red flag!

I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993 and I’ve paid for exactly zero (0) job leads – zero. I don’t care how good the offer sounds or how little the rate is, don’t fall for it. Usually, you’ll be asked to sign up for a test period of 3, 5 or 7 days for “only $1.95 or $2.95.”

To your surprise, a week or a month later, your card/checking is charged for $47 or $97 – the “full membership” fee. And the kicker – this will be a monthly recurring fee. And, it can be downright impossible to get your money back because phone calls and email will go unanswered and/or bounce back.

If this happens to you, the best thing to do is cancel your account (yes, cancel it) and file a report with your Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Better Business Bureau.

If you don’t cancel your account, you run the risk of having your card charged month after month before you can get it stopped. And, the reason is, when you sign up for what you think is the low-cost of 3, 5 or 7 day trial, in the fine print is “trickerous” language that gives the thieves the right to bill you on a recurrent basis.

Just don’t ever pay for online freelance writing jobs leads – ever – and you’ll avoid this problem altogether.

Do Your Research: The internet is your best friend when research freelance writing opportunities online. Before investing in any opportunity – free or low-cost – do your homework. Freelance writers are notorious for outing scams and scammers.

Even a nominal amount of research will reveal online freelance writing jobs scams from real opportunities in freelance writing – if you take the time to look.