Working From Home Jobs Packing
We’ve all heard of leaflet packing jobs, they’ve been around for decades. I remember one of my friend’s parents used to do this and every so often she would let us help out and earn a little bit of money after school. The thought of being able to sit in front of the TV whilst the kids are at school or when they’re in bed and earn some money doing a fairly easy, menial job is understandably appealing. But is it a genuine way to make money or are envelope-stuffing jobs a scam?
As a general rule of thumb, if a job seems like it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. With the cost of living crisis making money tight in many households at the moment, it can be really tempting to dive into a job that promises you a decent wage for packing leaflets at home. But you really do need to take some time to look into this type of thing before you dive straight in.
Are envelope-stuffing jobs a scam?
Stuffing envelopes used to be a genuine way to make money. Whether it was as a standalone job or as a little overtime that you could take home from your place of work, plenty of working Mums and Dads did this back in the late eighties and early nineties.
But, sadly, these days, any job that promises you a competitive salary stuffing envelopes is highly likely to be a scam. The internet is full of untrusty worthy people setting up a fake company just to exploit vulnerable people looking for a way to make ends meet.
How do leaflet packing companies make their money?
So how is it a scam? How do these unreputable leaflet-packing companies make any money out of this? Well, they earn money in a number of ways, but none of them are good!
You pay a signing-up fee
Similarly to some MLM schemes, many companies offering leaflet packing work will ask for a payment from you in order for them to set you up as one of their workers. This is purely a way to make money from you and is one of the main ways that these fake companies make their money.
NEVER pay out any money for any potential job whether it’s work-from-home or otherwise. This is a way for these companies to exploit you by taking money from you often when you need it most with the promise that you’ll make far more money when you start working from them.
They reject your work
Another way that they con people is to say that their work doesn’t meet the required standards and they refuse to pay. This is an easy way for them to use you free of charge and avoid paying. Unfortunately, there’s no way to see this coming and as you’ve already done the work there is very little you can do about it.
Radio silence
Many working from home jobs packing will be in regular contact with you initially whilst they encourage you to work for them, but once you’ve done the work you never hear from them again. They don’t answer your emails and seem to have just disappeared off the face of the earth.
Again, there is no way to predict that this will happen until you’ve actually done the work.
Are card-packing jobs the same as leaflet packing jobs?
Whilst you’d be packing slightly different items, card-packing jobs and leaflet-packing jobs are extremely similar and they are pretty much always a scam as are any working from home jobs packing.
Free start-up kit for leaflet packing
So what about the companies that offer a free start-up kit for working from home jobs packing? Are they legitimate if they’re not asking you for any money up-front?
Sadly, no. Even the jobs that offer you a free start-up kit are more than likely planning to exploit you and there are a couple of different ways they might do that.
Selling your details
Your personal details are like gold dust to criminals and they can be used in all kinds of ways. If you’re being offered a free start-up kit, then you will need to provide your personal details to these scammers. They can then sell your details on to others who may want to use them for their own gain. They could use your details to take out credit cards or loans, or sell them to third party data brokers. They can then sell your details onto companies who may use it to target you for things like insurance or specific products that might fit your profile.
Asking you to pay for their work-from-home documents or training
You may be asked to pay for a work-from-home directory or list. This is just a way for them to make money from you so don’t be sucked in.
Are home packing jobs ever worth it?
A few decades ago I would have told you that yes, packing jobs are definitely worth it. But times have changed A LOT since then,
Working from home jobs packing or stuffing envelopes are pretty much never worth it. If you don’t get sucked in to pay an initial start-up fee, then the chances are that you’ll struggle to get paid for any work you do for these people.
Tell-tale signs that a job is a scam
So how can you tell that a job is a scam?
Some scams are incredibly clever and it can be really difficult to work out whether an opportunity is genuine or not. But, there are a few tell-tale signs that a job is probably a scam and not worth pursuing.
Unsecured website
First of all, if the company trying to recruit has a website, make sure it is a secure one. One of the biggest red flags when you’re doing anything online is an unsecured website.
You can tell whether a website is secure by checking for the padlock symbol in the address bar.
A secure website address will always start with https:// whereas an unsecured site will be http:// at the start of their URL.
An unsecured site will have an exclamation mark at the beginning of the address bar along with a warning that it’s not secure.
Never, ever enter any of your details into an unsecured website.
Bad reviews
One good thing about the internet these days is that you can find online reviews for just about anything, and that includes working from home jobs packing. All you need to do is type in the name of the company and “reviews” into Google and you will hopefully be able to check how reputable they are.
The only issue with this is that these fake companies and individuals are likely to change their names fairly regularly in order to stay under the radar. But, it’s still worth checking.
Asking you for money
As a rule of thumb, any job that offers you a genuine way to make money will not ask for you to pay any money for any kit up-front.
Harmful site warning
If your web browser pops up with a harmful site warning when you try to visit the website of these types of jobs, then that’s a huge red flag that you need to walk away right now.
Working from home jobs packing offering unrealistic money
One of the ways that people get sucked in by scammers is by being offered a lot of money for an easy job. If you’re being offered lots of money to stuff envelopes, then it’s more than likely a scam. If there were any real leaflet stuffing jobs then they will probably be paying minimum wage and be expecting a lot of work in return.
How to report a packing home jobs scam
Unfortunately, working from home jobs packing envelopes and MLM type jobs will always be around and the sheer volume of new “opportunities” popping up daily makes them very hard to police. However, you can report these scams to Action Fraud – the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre. You can also report suspicious websites to the National Cyber Security Centre.
Leaflet packing & card packing jobs FAQs
Are all working from home jobs packing envelopes scams?
Whilst it’s impossible for me to say that yes, all working from home jobs packing are scams, the reality is that over 99% of them are. So, it’s best to just completely avoid this type of job altogether. It’s completely understandable that this type of work appeals to you, but it’s just not worth it.
How do individuals advertising working from home jobs packing make money?
There are a few different ways that these scammers make money.
- Taking payment for start-up kit that never arrives
- Selling your details
- Using your details fraudulently
Are there any genuine work-from-home jobs?
Thankfully there are lots of genuine work-from-home jobs available, you just need to know where to look. The number of remote jobs available has grown drastically since Covid lockdowns as more and more companies are understanding that this is a cost effective way to run their businesses. You can get all kinds of jobs working from home and many are on a permanent contract offering great packages too.
As well as employed jobs working from home, you could also consider taking up a side hustle to bring in more money. I’ve got a huge list of 101 side hustles and many of these could eventually turn into full-time businesses.
Is it realistic to think I can make a full-time income from home?
Yes, it is entirely realistic to think that you can make a full-time income from home. I’ve been doing just that since 2009 in various different roles. Initially, I set up a business as a childminder, then I took on a remote-working job as a Proofreader and finally I took the plunge and started blogging full-time in April 2022. This took me a few years to achieve, but if you’re dedicated and hardworking, you can definitely make a full-time income from the comfort of your own home.
