Here are three things you can do to avoid online writing scams so you can spend your time investing in legitimate home writing opportunities.

Never “Write for Free”: One of the most common online freelance writing scams is the “writing sample” scam. The way this works is that a company will ask you to write original content to “judge your writing ability.”

Do not be fooled. Legitimate companies would never expect you to write for free or write to spec as it’s called in the industry. If they want you to write an original sample for them, they expect to pay for it.

So if a business expects free content, even if it’s “just a sample to judge your writing ability,” say “No thanks” and move on.

Never pay for job opportunities: Another common online freelance writing scam is the pay for job opportunity scam. Typically, you are required to pay a membership or subscription fee to join a site for job opportunities. This is a red flag, red flag, red flag!

I have been a freelance writer since 1993 and have paid exactly zero (0) job opportunities: zero. I don’t care how good the offer sounds or how low the rate is, don’t be fooled. Typically, you’ll be asked to sign up for a 3, 5, or 7-day trial for “just $1.95 or $2.95.”

To your surprise, a week or a month later, your card/checking account is charged $47 or $97, the “full membership” fee. And the kicker: this will be a recurring monthly fee. And, it may be completely impossible to get your money back because phone calls and emails will not be answered or recovered.

If this happens to you, the best thing to do is cancel your account (yes, cancel it) and file a report with your Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Better Business Bureau.

If you don’t cancel your account, you risk having your card charged month after month before you can stop it. And, the reason is, when you sign up for what you think is the low-cost 3-, 5-, or 7-day trial, there is “misleading” language in the fine print that gives thieves the right to bill you for recurring form. .

Just never pay for freelance writing jobs online, ever, and you’ll avoid this problem entirely.

Do your research: The Internet is your best friend when looking for freelance writing opportunities online. Before you invest in any opportunity, free or low-cost, do your research. Freelance writers are known for reporting scams and con artists.

Even a nominal amount of research will reveal online freelance writing job scams from real opportunities in freelance writing, if you take the time to search.