Data entry or administrative work.

Data entry is becoming the envelope stuffing of the digital age - It's a great way of earning money but only if you're promoting it and not actually working at it. Some data entry scams ask for a set up fee and some don't but all these 'jobs' offer the scammer the chance to rip you off in a variety of ways.

Most people's idea of a data entry job is one where you get paid for typing information into a PC either by the hour or per page, word or whatever. This kind of legitimate data entry work is very difficult to find to carry out on a work at home basis. There are plenty of real data entry jobs, for example entering invoices into Excel or accounts packages, but they are largely office based and don't pay a great amount.

How do data entry scams work?

You might get an email offering part-time work as an administrator or similar and earn good money for processing payments which for some inexplicable reason need to go via your bank account. Give your new employer your details and watch your identity get stolen and your bank account get emptied. Even if they just take you for a registration fee, don't expect to turn a profit anytime this side of the next milennium.

Or you might see a small advert that promises big earnings for data entry. The ad will take you to a page that confirms you can make loads of money just by sitting at your PC and doing a little typing for a few hours a week.

Why these huge amounts are available to anyone with no specific skills other than a little typing is not generally explained but all will be made clear once you sign up....Oh and just to make sure you are serious, there's a sign-up / registration / joining / admin fee. This will be accompanied by all sorts of guarantees and money-back promises but once you've parted with your cash, getting it back is often nigh on impossible...

What about the free 'data entry' jobs?

The 'free' ones are generally just affiliate programs under one guise or another where you have to pay to advertise on search engines to try and get sales for whatever the product is (e-books are popular)

You'll be given a link or 'landing page' and earn a commission on each click through but you'll find that it's very difficult to turn a profit after paying for the ads. The seller of the product however is in a win-win situation as you are paying per click but he is only paying you per sale.

In effect although you are not paying to sign up, you are paying the seller's advertising costs. He doesn't care if you lose money on a per-click campaign as he is only paying you after he has collected money for the sale.

Add to this the fact that many 'data entry' jobs ask for an up-front fee for registration and you can see that it's a great earner for the seller but a quick way to lose money for the victim!

Find out more about scams schemes from consumer direct (opens in new window ) more on scams (opens in new window )