THE Government has just announced a national campaign to warn homeworkers about pretend schemes to cheat them out of money.

DTI Minister of State, Ian McCartney and Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister, Nigel Griffiths, are behind the scheme to raise awareness of possible pitfalls for homeworkers.

Mr McCartney said homeworkers should be aware of modern day "robber barons" and stated the golden rule was "never send money in advance for work at home."

"Some offers of homeworking are genuine. But among them lurk con artists who advertise bogus offers of work - just to rob innocent homeworkers of money," he added.

The Minister warned people to be wary of schemes which appear to offer work addressing and stuffing envelopes at home.

"Many of these ask for a registration fee and then tell you to place adverts similar to the one you saw in the first place," he warned.

Similarly, many schemes offering home assembly work duped people into buying materials in advance, promised to refund their money upon completion of the work, then refused the made-up goods on the premise that they were sub-standard.

In reality, there may never have been a market for such goods in the first place.

But Mr McCartney also had advice for homeworkers looking for work.

"Ask friends, relatives or neighbours if they know of any local employers who might be looking for homeworkers. Find out what you can about the company. Try to find work from a firm near you so it is easier to collect and deliver work and sort out any problems."

And there will be a leaflet with advice on finding genuine opportunities of homeworking available in the near future.

Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister, Nigel Griffiths urged the public to complain about misleading offers of homeworking.

He advised them to contact Trading Standards Officers in their area, write to the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority), or contact the National Group on Homeworking on freephone 0800-174095.

He said: "Homeworkers can help us to drive these crooked operators out of business."

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