Work-At-Home 

The Office of Consumer Protection frequently gets calls about whether a particular Work at Home opportunity is "legitimate". While we cannot tell you whether a particular offer is right for you, we can tell you that in Maryland it is illegal to require a consumer to advance any money in order to earn money at home. 

The law states: A person who places any advertisement that represents that any person can earn money at home by stuffing or addressing envelopes, mailing circulars, clipping newspaper or magazine articles, or performing similar work:

1. Shall pay compensation to others for performing the represented tasks; and

2. May not require the person who will perform the represented tasks to advance any monetary payment or deposit to the person who placed the advertisement on any instructional booklets, brochures, kits, programs or similar information materials, mailing lists, directories, memberships in cooperative associations, or other items or services. (Annotated Code of Maryland, Commercial Law Article, §13-314)