Need some easy money? Scammers think they’ve got just the thing for you if you do.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has picked up the scent of a new scam spotted on social media: appointment setting jobs – one where they claim you can work from home and make big, easy bucks.
In essence, it's a light sales job. All you have to do is submit your info somewhere showing interest in a particular product or service – say, a pest control inspection or roofing estimator. And if you’re good at it, you’ll get paid a base hourly wage plus a bonus based on how many appointments you can actually make happen.
But just what does an appointment setter do? And how can you tell the difference between a legit job offer and a scam? Here are some ways to tell the difference between an appointment setter job scam and an honest, legitimate position.
“Scammy ads tend to promise a very high income. The truth is that real appointment setting is a normal job with a modest income,” Colleen Tressler with the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education, explains.
Tressler says the first clue it’s a scam is that you’re told you have to pay thousands of dollars upfront for training. “The truth is, honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job. Scammers say they’ll guarantee you a job once you pay for training. The truth is no one can guarantee you a job,” she said.
“Scammers may also look more like a business opportunity than a paid position, promising you potential clients, or suggesting you recruit new people to their “job” training programs, instead of setting appointments.”
Look before you leap
Before you accept a job or business opportunity offer, press pause and take your time and talk to someone you trust. Whatever you do, don’t let the person pitching this idea get too far into your head or your life. If it’s a scammer, you can be assured that they will try to pressure you to get involved or risk losing out.
The FTC also suggests you do a little research, like searching online for the name of the company and words like “review,” “scam,” or “complaint.” Check with your state attorney general for complaints. No complaints? It doesn’t guarantee that a company is honest, but complaints can tip you off to possible problems.
But if you do want to be an appointment setter, you can make an honest living at it, claims Erika Kulpina – someone who spent three years doing that. In this video, she explains how the job works, how you get paid, what the pecking order is, and shares more signs of what the false promises are.