Work At Home Stuffing Envelopes – Real Work From Home Job or Scam?

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For stay at home mums looking to earn extra income, a work at home stuffing envelopes job can seem like the perfect solution.

But is it?

Today I'm taking a real look at this so-called work from home opportunity to find out if its a real income-boosting opportunity or just another work from home scam.

Why I hoped envelope stuffing wasn't a scam

My hopes were high going into this because, you see, when I was growing up my mum was a single parent with four young kids (me being the oldest).

My mum would earn extra income by collecting 6,000-8,000 tags at a time, take them home and we'd all help tie strings onto the tags.

I remember it didn't pay very well at all, maybe £20 ($25) for a box of 1,000, but at least it paid. I thought that maybe, just like the tags were, stuffing envelopes could be a good way to earn money from home.

It turns out envelope stuffing is one of the worst scams that's been around a long time. And I'm going to show you as clearly as I can why stuffing envelopes is not legitimate and expose is for the ugly scam it is.

Crazy envelope stuffing job ad claims

Just look at these claims made by two of the biggest ‘envelope stuffing companies'. One envelope stuffing site claimed you could earn up to $1,872 per week…

work from home job stuffing envelopes job no fees scam

Another site promised you $1,200 a week or $5 per envelope stuffed…

 work at home stuffing envelopes jobs no fee

Whether it's an online ad, a poster attached to a traffic light post or a card stuck under your car windscreen wiper, they all guarantee the same thing – a lot of easy money for easy work and no experience required.

These are classic tell-tale signs of a work from home scam and they should cause red lights to flash and sirens to sound in your head.

Ask yourself, do you think an envelope stuffer would earn more than a primary school teacher or an accountant? And if pays so well, why isn't everyone doing it?

Envelope stuffing was once a real work from home job (not anymore)

Just like my mum tying string to tags in the 90's, there was a time when envelope stuffing was a real thing.

stuffing-envelopes-scam-or-real-job

Envelope stuffing was a popular choice for housewives looking to supplement their income in the aftermath of World War II and legitimate envelope stuffing job vacancies were advertised until the invention of envelope stuffing machines like this one…

The envelope stuffing machine that changed everything


So while it might have once been a good work from home job, now it's just used by scammers to ensnare their next victim.

Today anyone can buy an envelope packing machine capable of stuffing 5,400 envelopes an hour for less than the price of a photocopier.

Why the heck would someone pay you $5 for stuffing an envelope when machines can it a lot quicker and a lot cheaper? It just doesn't stack up.

How ‘stuffing envelopes' turns you from scam victim to scammer overnight

why working from home stuffing envelopes is a scam

You send off start up fee which can typically range anywhere from $30-$70 along with a self-addressed envelope and then wait for your business starter pack to arrive.

Envelope stuffing scam victims from Kentucky, Arkansas, New Jersey and New York have filed a complaint against one envelope stuffing company with the Better Business Bureau who was changing anywhere from a $99 to $399 upfront fee!

Sometimes you never hear anything back, just your cheque cashed. If they do bother to send you your starter pack at all, it turns out to be just the flyer you responded to in the first place with instructions to make copies of the flyer (this time with your contact details) and find people to sign up.

How would you feel at this point? Pretty angry? I know I would. You've just wasted at least $30 (hopefully not $399!) for a printed flyer in an envelope you paid postage for.

So how do you recoup your fee costs? With some luck and persistence, you might be able to find a few willing victims to prey upon with the same scam you fell for so they can pay a fee a $30 fee and you get a measley $5 commission for.

And so the chain letter scam continues…

Wikipedia puts it this way:

“To apply for the job, the victim is required to send a self-addressed stamped envelope for information and a small processing fee.

In return, the victim is sent a template for the flyer they had originally seen; the envelopes they stuff are from other people who answer the flyer, and the payment is the processing fee.”

If you've already fallen for this work from home scam, I'm sorry, but please, don't be tempted to cause other people to stumble the same way you did. Simply accept the loss, learn from the mistake and move on.

The work from home stuffing envelope scam has been around since we used dial up models to connect to the internet, so why are people still falling for it?

3 big reasons people still fall for this classic work from home scam

1. It sounds simple and straight-forward

It sounds straight forward right? You pay the fee and expect a box with envelopes and brochures to insert to arrive a few days later. No minimum qualifications or previous experience required – everyone qualifies.

On the surface it can look like a legitimate work form home job oportunity, perfect for students who can make easy money stuffing envelopes whilst watching their favourite netflix series and eating warmed-up pizza.

2. They're dazzled by promises of potential profit

While promises of $1,000's a week for an entry level job might be a clear sign of a scam for some, for people desperate to believe it, this can seem like the answer to all their problems. Work from scams are successful because they only need 1% of people reading the ad to pay the starter fee.

3. They don't do their homework

Instead of jumping up to grab our cheque books at the mere mention of envelope stuffing or any other work from home opportunity, we should stop for a second, breathe in and take the time to read reviews and research the experiences others have had.

What's next?

If you apply for a so-called work from home stuffing envelopes job vacancy then you're actually getting involved in a scam. It's an ugly pyramid scheme- chain letter scam combo. Stay well clear.

Knowing the tell-tale signs  ahead of time will help you to avoid work from home scams like this.

If you've been unfortunate enough to come across an envelope stuffing scam or any other kind of scam, here's how to report it.

There are so many real ways to work from home, here are 7 Legitimate Work From Home Jobs (With No Start Up Fees).

Have you ever come across a work from home stuffing envelope scam? Please drop a comment below sharing your experience and help others fall for this classic work from home scam.

19 thoughts on “Work At Home Stuffing Envelopes – Real Work From Home Job or Scam?”

  1. I would like to stuff envelopes, just to support myself, to have my very money. I hope is not a scam. People need money to pay bills and to ride the bus and metro trains and people need clothes and food to fed their kids and grandchildren.

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Keven Moomaw
      • To whom this may concern I have not received my stuff envelope materials yet and it says 7 to 10 business days go ahead and receive my money and this is not right because this stuff is online so please can I get my materials

        Reply
        • Hi Nicole, I’m not sure who you’re directing this to but this is an article explaining how envelope stuffing jobs don’t exist since we now have machines that can do it at a fraction of the cost. I fear you may have fallen for a scam…

          Reply
  3. This is such a despicable scam which could take advantage of so many vulnerable people.

    One of my friends has been targeted by this before, she was asked for money up front and decided not to bother and just binned the paperwork.

    Its scary to think that people are trying to scam others out of money and I am glad you are helping expose these fraudsters for what they are.

    Reply
    • Thanks Craig, it’s unbelievale the lengths some people will go to with not even a second’s thought for people vulnerable enough to fall for these types of scams.

      Scammers will try and charge you for ‘admin fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘set ups’ or to send you a ‘starter pack’, but don’t fall for it. If you have to pay to work, it’s not a real work from job. Simple.

      Reply
  4. Hey Simon, great article. I have seen these envelope stuffing advertisements for easy work, quick money in the States for years. When I was a bit younger, I contemplated checking them out, but always refrained from doing so. It just sounded to good to be true for me. Your article explains some interesting points, like the envelop stuffing machines that are available. Why would any company pay a human to stuff envelopes, when they can purchase a machine to stuff thousands of them an hour, and inexpensively? I also liked the fact that you explained how it was a legit job back many years ago, when the technology was not as efficient during the war, and that envelope stuffing by a human was more a legit endeavor. However, with today’s technology, this makes this scam obsolete. Great read!

    Reply
    • Thanks Eric, I really appreciate that. Yep one day it was… way back when. I just had to include the envelope stuffing machine video – it just totally debunks this whole work at home stuffing envelopes scam in the cold light of day!

      I wonder what jobs machines will be doing instead of humans in another 50 years’ time…

      Reply
  5. Hi Simon! Really interesting article you’ve got here! I did not know that such a thing exists. After reading this, I am sure to research more before adopting a practice. I seem to hear this from one of my friends before, better warn them before it gets worse. Thanks for this and really looking forward to your next articles!

    Reply
    • Yes unfortunately it still a very common work at home scam. They say things like “Get paid for ad placement” but what you don’t know if your placing ads to recruit other unsuspecting victims into the same scam you just fell for.

      Thanks, always great to see you around the blog : )

      Reply
  6. Hi there
    This is a great article and thanks for posting. This sure was a lot of work for very little reward. How unscruplus people and companies can advertise like this and get away with it is wrong and illegal, I have no doubt.
    You have done a great service to highlight these scammers and to alert people to this.
    The problem is…..the ads are so professional, one does’nt know if its for real or not.
    Thanks again for sharing
    Cheers….Phil Browne

    Reply
    • Thanks Phil, yes I’m sure it is illegal, certainly in the UK and US, though I’m sure it varies with different countries. I just wouldn’t like to think how many hundreds of people have been duped with this…

      I recently wrote 13 Ways To Avoid Work From Home Scams Online because if people know the signs of a work from home scam like this then hopefully they’ll be all the wiser and not fall for it.

      Reply
  7. Ok, I have seen lots of job vancancies being advertised saying you can stuff envelopes as a job, and I was tempted to apply to be honest. But you learn something new every day. Thank you for posting this. Lots of valuable information on what this is, and how to avoid it. I’m surprised that this is still going on, even though time has passed.

    Reply
    • Thanks Francisco, yes unfortunately it’s still a very common work from home scam and I don’t need to tell you the internet is littered with scams like these.

      My hope is that by writing articles like this and exposing scams that people will be armed with the knowledge not to fall for them. Only then will they disappear completely, hopefully some day soon!

      Reply

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