You don’t need to be able to spot a scam. You need eight questions and eight minutes.
On Monday I told you I checked twelve offers. This is the check I built out of it.
Run it before you apply, not after you’ve had a bad feeling for three days.
Screenshot it. Save it. Send it to the friend who’s about to click something.
The Eight Checks
1. Did they ask you for money?
Any amount, any reason. Stop here. This one check alone would have caught two of my twelve.
2. Is there a real company behind it?
Search the name plus the word “reviews”. If nothing exists outside their own website, you have your answer.
3. Does the pay make sense?
$50 an hour for data entry with no experience is not a job. It’s bait, and it’s aimed at exactly how much you need this.
4. Did they hire you without checking anything?
Real clients ask for a sample, a test, or a call. Instant hiring means you’re not the one being bought.
5. Is the email address a company address?
A hiring manager at a real company rarely writes from a free personal account.
6. Are they rushing you?
“Only 3 spots left, reply within 24 hours.” Urgency is the oldest tool there is. Real work is still there tomorrow. This one catches the offers that look most professional.
7. Do they want bank details before a contract?
Payment details come after you’re hired and after something is signed. Never during an application.
8. Can you find one real person who did it?
Not a testimonial on their own site. An actual human, in a forum or a group, saying what they got paid.
Eight checks. Clear all eight and it’s probably real. Fail either of the first two and you’re done — close the tab, no second thoughts.
Why this beats “Trust your Gut”
• Your gut is tired. Most of us are doing this at 9pm with one ear on the baby monitor. A list works when you’re exhausted. Instincts don’t.
• It’s short enough to actually use. Advice you won’t follow isn’t advice. Eight minutes fits inside a nap.
• It gives you permission to say yes. That’s the half nobody mentions. A checklist doesn’t only stop you taking bad offers. It lets you take good ones without agonizing for a week first.
Let me tell you about the one that nearly got me, because I don’t want you thinking I’m above this.
It was an online project that looked exactly like the sort of work I actually do. Professional site. Real-sounding company. Then, right at the end of the application, a $35 fee to “access the assessment platform” . I sat there with my card in my hand doing the maths on whether $35 was worth the risk.
Check one would have ended it in four seconds. Check seven too. I wasn’t careless. I was hopeful.
Those two look identical from the inside. That’s the whole reason the list exists.
The one thing to do this week
Save this email. Next time you’re about to apply for something, open it first and run the eight.
If someone sent this to you: I’m Lana. I write one newsletter for mothers building an income from home without getting fleeced on the way in. Friday’s is about the qualification question, and it’s the one that surprises people most.
— Lana
Q & A’s
How do I legally make extra money from home?
Everything in this newsletter is ordinary legal work freelancing, contract work, employment. The fact that “legally” shows up in searches at all tells you how much of what people are being shown feels shady. If a job needs you to hide it, mislead someone, or move money for a stranger, it isn’t a job.
Are the jobs posted in Facebook groups real?
Some are. Groups are also where the highest concentration of fake postings lives, because nobody verifies anything. Use groups to find company names, then go and apply on that company’s own site. Never apply through a DM.
What if I’ve already given someone my details?
Call your bank first and tell them exactly what was shared. They can flag the account. Change any password you reused anywhere. Then report the listing where you found it. This happens to careful, intelligent people constantly. It is not a verdict on your judgement.