Dream or Reality Update

If you have read my post titled Dream or Reality, here’s a follow up.

A week after I have posted my post, the prospective client called again. He apologized for the three weeks of absence cause there was a family emergency that needs his immediate attention. He told me that he would like to start training one of my staff for inbound calls. So everything was set for the training.

The next day which was the day of the training, he was again missing in action. We called but got his voicemail. I emailed but no reply. I left messages on his yahoo IM but no reply too.

It’s been more than three weeks again and we haven’t heard from him. We have given up on him and has moved on with other clients.

Therefore, in conclusion, what we had wasn’t a dream, it was a reality. But the reality of it was, we met an inconsiderate prospective client!

Pay Trouble

One thing that really exasperate me at times is the demands the clients make. One client wanted complete silence when the agent answers the phone. But he has to understand that even if you called up customer support of various companies, you can hear background voices of people talking. this is unavoidable, unless the virtual person you hire is working alone. But like I have four people working simultaneously, background voice and typing sounds is unavoidable. So for several days I was busy out looking for cubicles, getting quotes for having one made just so I can serve his demands. Finally, I found a company who can built a three person cubicle for me like what they’re using in the call center at a reasonable price. But guess what? after a week, the client inform me that he doesn’t need more call center agents, because his business is slow so he is canceling our contract! If I have known he would cancel the account, I wouldn’t bother having to commission a company to build the cubicle! My other clients aren’t complaining.

This incident reminded me of a customer of a client of mine who called. Before, I was the only one doing the call center work, so when I answered the phone everything was very quite. You think the customer would appreciate the fact the it is a very quite office? No she is not!. She told me ” are you in an office? you don’t sound like an office”. Well hey, sorry about that. It is just so hard to please all people!

Last night, a two week old client informed the agent that is working with him that he will not pay for days that he doesn’t have work for her. WHAT???…I assigned one agent to work with him and the agent has to be present everyday and I have to pay her daily and now this client is not going to pay me for days that he doesn’t have work for her? So who is going to shoulder the cost then? If he doesn’t have work for her for two weeks, what then? Is she just going to sit around tweedling her thumbs?

Ok, so I have part time clients who only pays when there is work and that is fine, cause I handle more than three clients’ tasks daily. But the thing is, this call center agent works with him exclusively. If he has told me from the beginning that he doesn’t want anyone full time, then I would have gotten another part time job for the agent. He told me there will always be work, and now this bombshell!

But this is the most exasperating tale, one prospect I talked to several weeks wanted to have a full time agent calling his clients and prospects. The thing is, he wants to try out the agent for a month! my goodness! This is not a varsity try out! So during the one month try out, he will not be paying anything cause he is just trying out! No wonder he couldn’t get anyone to work for him

Oh well, everyday’s experiences has its’ purpose I guess. I just sure hope it won’t be an expensive experience.

Beware of Data Entry Job Scams

I have the pleasure of getting permission from www.oil-offshore-marine.com to include in my blog their write up regarding Data Entry Scams. I hope that online job seekers will take time to read this post in order to help themselves from being scammed.

Please note that www.oil-offshore-marine.com also does FREE Checking for you.

FREE Checking System: if you get a job offer that sounds too good to be true, or if you have any doubts about it, please email us at info[at]oil-offshore-marine.com and we will check if that job offer is a scam or not, and if the job offer was made by a real, good-faith, company.

Source: http://www.oil-offshore-marine.com/beware-data-entry-job-scams.php

1. What is a data entry job scam? What can you LOSE?

Answers: Data entry job, data entry job scam? What do these mean? Let’s explain:

a) a data entry job is a temporary, part-time, individual and non-supervised job, which is purportedly offered by websites directly, or on behalf of the websites’ “clients” [note that we are NOT referring to full-time, office based, fixed schedule data entry jobs where the employee goes to work every working day, thus leaving the home and travelling to work]

b) a data entry job scam is basically a job scam; in other words, a data entry job scam is a form of FRAUD where certain persons (scammers), acting from behind one, two or several websites, attempt to fool good-faith people (people that are looking for work from home opportunities), by falsely promising them data entry jobs, jobs through which they (the victims) can earn money working from home and without any need for travelling to an office location. What’s the CATCH? Here it is: generally, in order to get these “amazing” data entry opportunities, the jobseekers (the future victims) need to register online on the scammers’ websites and pay one or more registration fee(s) ranging from US$ 9 up to US$ 450, and only after they register they’ll get the data entry “projects” started; the only problem is that, once they pay the money, the victims will never get the money back even if the website has BIG banners saying “30 days money return guaranteed!”; the even bigger problem is that since they paid online (on the website) for the registration, the scammers also got the credit card details - which they can use in other illegal activities.

OR, scammers might very well ask you to pay for so called “training materials” - needless to say that once you pay them you’ll get nothing but a useless sheet of paper.

Note: If you are asked to pay any money upfront = step back, it’s a scam. Don’t pay anything to anyone. Don’t be a victim!

A data entry job scam can also take the form of various job ads displayed on one, two or more online job boards, job ads that invite (”welcome” in the scammers’ own words) job applications; generally, these job ads contain extremely limited information, an email address, a cell phone number, and in most cases they also contain a notice regarding the salary which can be “excellent”, “sky-rocketing”, “amazing”, and can range from US$ 100 a week up to US$ 2,000 a week. Beware! Don’t swallow the bait! Well, what’s the CATCH? Here it is: once you reply with your job application or a phone call, the scammers will try to get your personal data (which is basically no less than identity theft - and this can cause you a lot of problems), or your financial information (saying they need it for job processing and so forth), or money (via check, wire or cash); the scammers can also invote you to register on one of their “amazing” websites, which obviously is full of “opportunities”.

Note: always be on alert if you see job ads that provide very little information and do not reply to all the job ads you see or get; we know some of you might we too desperate getting a job, but we strongly advise you to be cautious and alert. Generally speaking, try NOT to provide your name, full address, SSN, credit card info, or other financial info via telephone conversations or via internet.

What can you LOSE? Many things: first (and most important), as soon as you reply to a bogus job ads (data entry related or not), ads posted on dubious job boards, you will lose your identity (that is, the scammers will get your personal data and use it for fraudulent purposes - forged passports, forged driving licences, credit card applications, and so on); second, as soon as you register on data entry websites, you lose the money you paid for registration; third, as soon as the scammers have your credit card details, not only you might lose a lot of money, but you can also get into more complex financial problems.

WARNING: VERY, VERY FEW DATA ENTRY JOB OPPORTUNITIES ARE REAL! UNLESS YOU ARE 101% SURE, YOU SHOULD TREAT MOST DATA ENTRY OPPORTUNITIES AS SCAMS!

2. How do the data entry job scammers act?

Answers: They do everything they can to promote, through any means (yet mostly online, via internet) their websites, so that they attract lots of people, out of which a certain percentage will fall in their trap. Even though such websites can be visited by lots of people, there are cases where many individuals will not be careful enough and they will “register” for the data entry offers. Examples of people who can easily be fooled due to their temporary or permanent personal problems: single mothers or stay-at-home mothers, mothers engaged in childcare thus not able to get full time positions, unemployed individuals, people with financial problems, university strudents or college students, and so forth. Remember, once the scammers fool you, not only do they get your money, they also get your personal identity and your financial info (address, name, SSN, credit card details, etc).

3. What should you do to protect yourself?

Answers: Measure Twice Cut Once is NOT Good! Measure 10 Times, and only then Cut Once. The scammers become more and more evolved, thus you need to be as knowledgeablea as possible. Since you risk a lot of crucial private information (such as: name - bank account details - credit card information - PayPal information - Social Security Number (SSN) - driver’s license - birth date - home address), you need to be very careful. If in doubt always remember this: what sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. If you need a second advice, let us know at info[at]oil-offshore-marine.com

Remember! We provide a FREE Checking System: if you get a job offer that sounds too good to be true, please email us at info[at]oil-offshore-marine.com and we will investigate and check if that job offer is a scam or not, and if the job offer was made by a real, good-faith, company.

4. “Wait… the company offering the data entry jobs says they are 100% honest!”

Answers: SO WHAT? John Doe from New York can say he was on both Mars and Jupiter, where he built a real-scale replica of the Eiffel Tower using steel from Moon and diamonds from Sun. Don’t trust a website just for seeing a banner they did it themselves and put it on their own website. Here is what you can do on your own to try to get more information

a) Go to www.google.com and in the search bar write “links:

www.SiteYouWantToCheck.com” then hit the Enter key. When results show up, go and find out the required information about the specific website you look. If you get little to none results, it means the website you indicated is practically unknown thus there is a great likelihood it’s a hoax. Look at the results that showed up (if any) and make your own judgement.

b) Also, you can go to www.google.com and in the search bar put down “about: www.SiteYouWantToCheck.com” and then click on Enter. Again, look at the results that you got and analyze them.
c) Try whois. In the search bar enter the www.SiteYouWantToCheck.com and click on Lookup. You will get a list of very useful data regarding that website. Hint: the sooner the registration date of that website (which can be seen on Registry Data -> Created), the bigger changes of scam!

d) If you see or get a job ad regarding data entry jobs, be extremely cautious: see what information they provide; the less information the bigger changes of scam; the higher the salary, the bigger chances of scam. e) If neither a, b, c nor d above have helped you reach a full, accurate decision, get in touch with us; we’ll give you a second advice to help you; for FREE of course

Remember! We provide a FREE Checking System: if you get a job offer that sounds too good to be true, please email us at info[at]oil-offshore-marine.com and we will investigate and check if that job offer is a scam or not, and if the job offer was made by a real, good-faith, company.

5. How to tell if a data entry job is real or scam?

Answers: On 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d above we provided some solutions. You might find others as well. In any case, stay alert, as this is no game. It’s actually too serious to be an innocent game.

We provide a FREE Checking System: if you get a job offer that sounds too good to be true, please email us at info[at]oil-offshore-marine.com and we will investigate and check if that job offer is a scam or not, and if the job offer was made by a real, good-faith, company.

6. What to do if you encounter a data entry job scam.

Answers:
a) Do NOT register (on bogus websites) BY PAYING MONEY; that is lost money!
b) Do NOT reply to job ads; DO NOT apply for job ads that seem strange or dubious.
c) Do NOT disclose any credit card details, financial or personal information to anyone.
d) Do NOT send money to anyone.
e) Send us information regarding that company/scammer so that we can add it to the list of data entry job scammers & fake companies (see below).

7. Partial list of fake websites and data entry job scammers.

So far, throughout our extensive search, it has been proved that the below are job scammers - fake companies:

Ø      Fake Website: www.28income.com
> Fake Website: www.atm-system.com
> Fake Website: www.bestfreedom.net
> Fake Website: www.bigpaywork.com
> Fake Website: careerjobs.bizland.com/hometypers.html
> Fake Website: careerjobs.bizland.com/legitonlinejobs.html
> Fake Website: www.dataentrybusiness.com
> Fake Website: www.dataentryjobshome.com
> Fake Website: www.dataentrymadeeasy.com
> Fake Website: www.dataentryportal.com
> Fake Website: www.dataentrypro.com
> Fake Website: http://dataentry.wannexllc.com
> Fake Website: herenowdataentry.wordpress.com/home-based-data-entry-job-information
> Fake Website: www.inetdataentry.com
> Fake Website: www.keyboarding4cash.com
> Fake Website: www.mydatajob.com
> Fake Website: www.my-data-team.com
> Fake Website: www.online-data-entry-jobs.com
> Fake Website: onlineincome.websitewizard.com
> Fake Website: work-from-home-data-entry.net
> Fake Job Ad:        www.freshjobs.com/js/JobDetails?action=view&jobID=110703&searchID=0
> Fake Job Ad: toronto.kijiji.ca/c-jobs-other-Home-Based-Typist-Data-Entry-Person-s-W0QQAdIdZ24751609

Guide to Understand Each Other

I recently got several new long term projects for my staff, which is supposed to be a happy thing and a cause for celebration. But then, instead of being happy, I am up to my head with problems.

One thing client should understand that it may take a little while for the online employee to adjust to your policies and idiosyncrasies. An example would be, a simple excel file sent to us. But instead of receiving the information in an excel file, we received it in a notepad. Thus everything ran in a continuous form instead of breaking into bullet form. So I told my staff to just copy and paste it on Word Document and sort everything out before entering them into excel form. It turned out when the client knew of this, he was unhappy about it, because his rule is “Do Not Make Any Assumption”. If you receive something other than what I have specify in my email, then ask me first.

But the thing is, in our previous experience, there were clients whom if you ask them or  have to confirm everything before getting to work, they get pissed off. They will say, ” please think before you ask me something, if there is something wrong with the file I sent, then feel free to work on it immediately instead of trying to contact me and ask, it is a waste of time. I want you to work with minimum supervision, and that includes thinking and taking charge.” Whew! sometimes orders like that can leave you trembling, because once a mistake will be made, then you will hear them saying ” why didn’t you ask me or talk to me first?”. Really, sometimes, you just don’t know how to please them.

I have always been a thinker, anything you want me to do, I always think first, and my personality is outspoken, inquisitive and tenacious.  So one experience I had with a client was, he told me to stop thinking and asking questions and instead do exactly as how he instructed me. The thing is, he asked me to research something so I did, and it turned out along my research, there were scope and limitations to the research, which he tells me everytime I submit the research file. So instead of a week or two of research work, it turned out to be several weeks, because there’s always something to weed from the research. If  I was allowed to think and ask questions, then things would have gone smoother.

Anther client wants total silence when my agents answers his phone calls. He told me that his clients get irritated when they can hear background noise like typing or people talking and just about any sounds. Based on my experience, one time a client of another client calls up and at that time everything was quite because I was the only one working, and then the person on the other line asked me if I am working in an office, I said yes I am, and she said, but you don’t sound like an office. I guess what she was expecting were sounds of printing, typing, talking and buzzling sounds of a busy office.

There are a lot more things that I could tell, but the bottom line is, people need to understand that everybody has their own idiosyncrasies, and that adjustment takes time. A client should be patient in guiding and molding the online worker to fit his needs, policies and protocols. You have to think that before working for you, the online worker has worked for somebody else that has different rules and protocols from you.

One last example is one client may want you to place dates like 3-07-2008, another may want you to place dates like 2008-03-07 and still another may want you to do 2008-07-03.

What can I say? Different folks, really different strokes, it just rang so true.

Forms of Data Entry

When I was starting out, that is starting to look for online jobs, I thought that Data Entry would be the easiest thing to do. I mean, I don’t have much experience working online, I am not a technical gal, so what else is there available for a novice like me?

But to my surprise, data entry like VA comes in many forms too.

To an accountant, data entry would possibly be entering invoices and billings in Quickbooks. Now if you don’t know Quickbooks and if the accountant is too busy to train you, then just lost a potential job.

For real estate property management firms, data entry may be creating monthly spreadsheets for various expenses and for reports to the unit owners, or keeping track of tenants.

An individual entrepreneur may need somebody to do data entry like entering information into an excel spreadsheet. The thing is, before entering anything, you have to do a lot of researching and reading first in order to get the correct information to enter.

Companies may require you to call other companies to confirm the information in their file. Now if you are shy or your english may have a heavy regional accent, calling could be a problem, because the companies you are calling may become suspicious. Others require you to use Excel to keep track of expenditures or sales report.
Still other data entry jobs are to do with excel spreadsheets and numbers. If you are not an expert on Excel Spreadsheet, again, this could be a problem if you are asked to create one with automatic calculations.

So the next time you apply for a data entry job, ask first what kind of data entry is involve. It may be more complicated than what you know or you just may be lucky that it is something you are an expert with.