By Leslie Truex

Telecommuting has increased almost 40% since 2001 and is expected to continue increasing to nearly 30 million telecommuters by the end of 2004 according the international Telework Association and Council. Telecommuting is not an American phenomenon alone. A report from IDC found that telecommuting in Western Europe is on the rise as well. The report predicts that telecommuting in Western Europe will increase from 6.2 million in 2001 to 20.1 million by 2005.

The growth of telecommunications as well as a desire to cut costs while retaining valuable employees has contributed to the expansion of telecommuting. These numbers give credence to the idea that families can balance work and family by earning an income from home.

However, finding a telecommuting job is not an easy task. Scam artists with their ads for easy money licking envelopes have created an illusion that work-at-home jobs are abundant and all that one needs to do is sign up. Work-at-home wannabes waste a fortune in money looking for "THE LIST' containing the legitimate work-at-home companies. So while millions of Americans work at home, millions more still lose money to work-at-home scams.

When looking for work-at-home jobs, here are five tips to keep in mind to evaluate their legitimacy:

1. NEVER send money for a work-at-home job. I have seen many ads that tell you the money is to process your application or cover expenses. It's nonsense. You would think your boss was nuts if he charged to put you on payroll or for paperclips.
   
   I have even seen an online scam, which says they know you are too smart to fall for the old "fee is to cover expenses". Instead, they charge you to maintain the servers and website. That's bogus too! Look at all the affiliate programs that don't charge you anything so that you can market their products and earn income.
   
   And then there are the programs in which you have to pay them so you can place their ads and earn a commission if someone responds. Again, if you want to waste your time placing free ads, join a free affiliate program instead. If you only remember one rule of thumb about work-at-home jobs, remember this: Never, ever, send money for a work-at-home job.
   
   
2. Avoid a company that doesn't have a street address (not P.O. Box) or phone number. Jobs are offered by companies should have a street address and phone. There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, a home-based business person may need to hire someone for some contract work. The address and phone may not be readily available in this situation. But you should be able to verify the legitimate existence of a company.
   
   
3. Beware of jobs from companies with websites posted on free hosting sites such as Angelfire. We are talking about jobs not home businesses in this case. While a home business person may promote their opportunity on a free domain, a company that is offering employment should have a website with its own domain. Any company that cannot afford to pay for web hosting or a domain can't afford to hire you.
   
   
4. Beware of email address from commercial or free accounts. Commercial accounts are those such as AOL or MSN. The free accounts are Yahoo or Hotmail. On occasion you my find a small business with an AOL or other account. I have worked for three agencies that have commercial accounts. However, in each case they were local and I had personal contact with them so I knew where to find them if they failed to pay! Often, commercial or free accounts are personal accounts not business accounts. Many times they are used to promote business opportunities and not jobs. Sometimes they are used for scams so a commercial or free account should signal a red flag and to do more research.
   
   
5. When searching your local classified ads, work-at-home opportunities with an 800# are not usually legitimate jobs. Local companies don't usually use 800#'s in their ads. If you are temped anyway and call, you will usually be asked for money, which if you remember rule #1, is a sure sign it's not a job. These ads usually sell overpriced work-at-home books or schemes.