Looking for a real work at home job? It's not easy. There are a tremendous amount of scams out there, some which can even land you in jail. However, there are a lot of legit opportunities out there as well, and with gas prices soaring work from home positions will only get more plentiful!

The first thing you need to decide is what kind of work at home position you want. Do you want a job, where you are treated as an employee, have set hours, and don't have to worry about taxes or do you want a business where you can be your own boss and set your own hours? The answer is important. If it's the former, there are plenty of positions out there. Most involve customer service work and sometimes sales, but there are also openings for transcription and virtual assistants. A great place to look is HomeWorkersNet.com. They update their lists of openings daily and you won't find scam after scam. Here's another idea. If you already have a job outside the home, why not ask if they'll let you do it at home? More and more companies are warming to the idea!

If you want a business, I recommend you head over to the wonderful forums at WAHM Magazine. There you'll find information on hundreds of different home based businesses, from MLM companies to writing and more. The key to starting a successful home based business is research! To protect yourself you must throughly research each any every "opportunity" you find. Some are great, many are scams. Run the companies through Google and the Better Business Bureau database. You can also visit the WAHM board mentioned above and ask about it there. You're sure to get lots of helpful information. Finally, remember these important tips:

1. Never ever pay a fee for information. If you are asked for money before you can get any information on an opporunity, run!

2. Beware of any business or job that promises hundreds or thousands of dollars a day for very little work.

3. Absolutely avoid anything that mentions "cash gifting" "rebate processing", "payment processing" or "shipping packages" as they are all not only scams, they are illegal!

4. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

5. If you heard it on an infomercial or through an unsolicited email, it's a scam.

We'll talk more about finding work at home positions tomorrow!