Jobs & Making Money

Starting a work-at-home business can give you the flexibility to set your own hours and be your own boss. But when you search online or get ads by email, you’ll often find scammers instead of a real opportunity.

Holidays often mean time with family and friends. If you’re looking for conversation starters that avoid tricky topics – like who should’ve won the World Series – why not chat about scams? Pass it On, an FTC education campaign, gives you new ways to talk about scams and how to prevent them.

For the second time in about a month, the FTC sued a company that falsely promised it would show people how to earn money in real estate to get them to pay thousands of dollars for seminars.

Scammers have been targeting Medicare recipients with a scheme to get “free or low-cost” back and knee braces. They’re calling, running television ads, and mailing letters to get people to give their Medicare information. But if you give them your information, they’ll use it to fraudulently bill Medicare for braces or other medical equipment. This uses up your medical benefits, which means you might not be able to get the right brace later, if your doctor prescribes one.