The number of home business opportunities (aka scams) that were bombarded with today is astoundingespecially given the state of our economy. Unfortunately, I became a victim to one myself since I lost my job several months ago and was feeling the pressure of not having a regular paycheck. Ive since decided to investigate the legitimacy of these jobs as theyre listed on so many job listings.

Many of the work-at-home jobs include data entry or accepting diet orders. The biggest draw of all (and what makes them seem legitimate) is a guarantee. If it doesnt work, your money will be refunded. The testimonies appear promising so what could go wrong? Thats what I thought!

I looked at several listings. I wanted to find one where I was actually an employee and had real tasks to perform. I didnt want the type where I was sold software or instructions on how to make money at home. I thought it would be simple.

Again, there was the guarantee. If I wasnt happy, Id get all of my money back and besides, I was also getting a special deal since I was one of the first 100 people to respond. What I got versus what was promised was completely different. I had no longer entered my personal information, including my credit card data, when I realized Id become a statistic: Id been scammed.

My job was to promote credit cards. I was to get their name on hundreds of search engines and others sites like "FaceBook". I had not been told that a condition of being paid included my having to apply for several credit cards. On top of that, I also had to be applied by them to get my $20 pay from my employer. Then, I was told that another requirement was that I had to make $500 first or I couldnt get the $20 per credit card.

There was also another excuse for why I couldnt yet get paid. I couldnt reach anyone at the company in person. I could only go through email where I usually got a preprogrammed response. It was impossible to get any real answers.

After I finally tracked down their phone number on my credit card statement, I left a message with the Australia-based office, but I never heard back. What I finally had to do was file a complaint against the company for fraudulent activity and Im waiting for that credit still.

I hate to admit I was scammed so easily, after all Im a college graduate. Its not nice was being in a state of desperation will do to ones reasoning. I was willing to work hard for it also. I just wasnt given the legitimate chance to do that. Bottom line: remember (as I did not) that if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.