So, being a new VA and reading this thread, I'm worried about how to tell real potential clients apart from the scammers. I definitely don't want to waste my time, efforts, money, etc. or worse! .

Any suggestions?

It's so sad that there are always con artists out to get us in every aspect of life anymore...sigh.

Thanks!
Kari Bullen
Virtual Cornerstone, LLC

Hi Kari,
That's exactly why we put in the scam library...start by reading through the posts and resources listed there. Having done so you'll have more of an eye for them.

It is sad - but with vigilant sharing of info here on the boards we can help protect ourselves and the industry as a whole.

__________________

Thanks Tess!

Just one more reason I'm glad I found all of you on this site!

__________________
Kari Bullen
Virtual Cornerstone, LLC - Supporting your business virtually.
www.virtualcornerstone.com

I'm also grateful for this site, as I got a suspicious e-mail today that turned out to be a scam-found that out through this website!

As a new VA, I'm also scared of getting scammed myself or having non-paying customers.

I am always wary of scam enquiries, emails I think are the worst, I received an email which looked pretty authentic until I got the last part - requesting my bank details lol, as if I would send them to an unknown. I then received the email several times over a period of weeks.

Telephone calls are the ones you can usually suss out. I ask people about their business and what it is that they would like me to be able to help them with, I am genuinely interested in them and knowing how I can help, this usually gives me an insight into the "fake" calls, as we can both expand on what their needs are and how my business can help them. Genuine callers you can usually get a pretty good idea.

Sally

Originally Posted by LesaJ

I'm also grateful for this site, as I got a suspicious e-mail today that turned out to be a scam-found that out through this website!

In my volunteer life, I am involved in a forum to help victims of romance and dating scams. Most scam/spam email received have an originating IP in the header which will tell you where it came from. Since a lot of these scams originate offshore, it is usually fairly easy to find out.

Open the header of the email you receive, copy and paste it into a header analysis tool. A free public one is here: http://nextwebsecurity.com/HeaderTool2-pub.asp. Click "Analyze". The last IP is where the email originated.

HTH,
DianeG
a newbie

Diane thanks for the info..I have added the site to my favorites. I can't believe that people do this kind of thing.

Diane,

That is great information! I will also bookmark it.

Sally,

When you receive inquiries, just remember - if it is too good to be true - it probably is. There is one gentleman by the name of Todd and he has a yahoo email address. He regularly hits VAs every couple of months.

I always check to see if their website is good, run a Google on their names, etc.

HTH

Kyle

Thanks Kyle, so far so good, I have sussed the 'weirdos' out - yep! including those who hit my site then skype me, they dont realise I can see what they searched for!!! need I say more...

I actively target local businesses, so this hasn't been a particular problem I have encountered. (should I say - yet)

Sally