In this week's consumer column we are warning readers and local residents to be on the alert for home working 'opportunities' which may not be what they seem.

Elizabeth Levett, City of York Council's Trading Standards Manager, is concerned about the large number of complaints and enquiries York Trading Standards have received over the past few weeks and advises readers to be on their guard.

Bogus home working schemes appear in many guises, advertisements in newspapers or shop windows, in leaflets delivered house to house, through the post, signs on lampposts or information stuck on car windscreens. Typically these schemes invite you to send a sae for further details, use PO box numbers outside the local area, and ask for a fee upfront for materials or registration.

Any home working scheme asking for money in return for work should be treated with extreme caution no matter how convincing the literature looks. Be wary of schemes which, in return for a fee, offer to send you a work kit or a list of companies offering home work, or those which state you will earn substantial amounts of money from addressing or filling envelopes.

Many schemes promise unrealistic earnings and don't explain clearly what the work involves. York Trading Standards regularly receive complaints from people who have found that rather than earning hundreds of pounds for a few hours work, as they were led to believe, they receive no work or information after receiving their initial fee, or they are required to recruit other home workers in order to qualify for payments.

Alternatively, when work is involved and completed, no matter how good your work is, it is always rejected as failing to reach a sufficiently high standard, or the firm simply just takes their money before supplies or payment is made.

A lot of people are still losing money to bogus schemes. At this time of year many people are looking at ways to earn extra money, but we would urge local residents to steer clear of these schemes as any money paid to rogue firms who can't be traced, don't pay up or go out of business may be lost forever.

If you need advice on this or any other consumer matter contact City of York Council's Trading Standards Consumer Advice Service on 01904 551562 or call at our reception at 9, St Leonard's Place, York. Our fax number is 01904 551590 or email us at trading.standards@york.gov.uk

Updated: 08:51 Thursday, October 03, 2002