Internet has become the mother of all latest information and communication systems comprised of thousands of interconnected networks with boundless reach and provide digital pathways to endless information sites. It has created such a reach that the entire population in the world is benefited from this information revolution with endless chain of pages and programs. All countries in the world have already started using this as the medium for transacting business including communicating with the common man in their day to day life.

A lot of time and efforts are saved in this fingertip information breakthrough because these networks subscribe to a common set of standards and protocols, enabling worldwide access to internet hosts and their related programs and databases.

Those are gone days where for a simple and common requirement like finding out a place, how to reach there, what is the flight or a train schedule, people used to wait in the long queues or hanging on telephone lines for hours or knocking on the doors of many agencies for such details. Many often, the required information are not available or getting wrong information and sometimes, no alternatives for another source of information. All that changed with the advent of Internet up to a great extent and has wide acceptance even among the people without much knowledge of computers. Electronic search and find tools allows a user to gather information from various sources wherever you are.

While it has benefited in different ways, it has a lot of disadvantages. Very often, it has been misused for its availability of all those things which are principled to be illegal or misleading. It is like a place with a bar and a milk booth, you have to decide where to go kind of status. Children are mostly the victims by the chat rooms and pornographic sites. Recent news from different parts of the world, especially, in the US, where cases of paedophiles luring children through chat rooms and having sex with them are some among the hundreds of untold stories happening every minute in the internet world. Internet has affected adversely on the social life of young people leading them to an isolated life. A study in the US indicated that among the people who use internet frequently, 31% spending only staggering 70 minutes in a day to interact with family and 25 minutes less sleeping and 30 minutes less for other entertainments. Also, studying online using internet has further hampered the requirement of mobility of a students life in advanced countries. Internet users spend three or more hours online every day, out of which, a major portion spent on online chat and emails. 8.7% playing games, 6.5% on browsing and 4.3% spent on shopping sites. The latest addition to internet vulnerability is of terrorists or antinational elements and fraudulent business operators using the internet facilities for their interests.

Shopping through internet or online has become popular with easy to see and buying online saves time and money provided some precautionary measures are taken before hand such as a secure internet connection when making a purchase. Technologies such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or SET (Secure Electronic Transmission) are used by famous sites to encrypt data during transmission. We can identify whether this technology is in use by checking lock icon at the bottom of the web browser window is closed and never one should send his credit card number by electronic or internet mail system. Also, make it sure that the accessing site address begins with HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

Ads like Be part of one of Fastest Growing Industries! Earn thousand of dollars a month from your home - Processing Billing Claims, Typing Work from Home, Work for the Retired from Home, Work for the Housewife- work from Home, Participate in Opinion Survey for 15 to 20 minutes and Earn at Home, Simple Process of Emails and Earn money at Home, Promote other Sites by Typing Ads for them at Home, etc. to name a few Home Based Business appearing everywhere in internet sites now these days. As these ads are appealing, especially if you want to work alone at home or a housewife who wants to use her spare time, vigilance should be maintained and ascertain that you are not cheated because all work-at-home opportunities do not deliver on their promises. Many of them ask for money for registering in their business or fees for training material and once they receive it, they will send an email containing work from home business leads and register with them again and pay. This chain of transactions will not end in any financial benefits and the frustrated prospective work from home applicant ultimately leaves the hope and efforts in wasting money and valuable time. Many ads hide the fact that the prospective work at home applicant to work hours without any payment and even have to spend much more for running a home-office with papers, photocopies, envelopes, stamps, Phone and Fax services. Furthermore, many links provided by them may not be working at all or messages from such sites saying that the particular program not available in your area.

In a case study of Medical Billing ads revealed that the exaggerated figures of unprocessed claims created crisis in healthcare system and electronic processing is the only way out and need to be outsourced the required workforce even without any prior experience. Many offer the services of their capable salespeople to find the buyer of your services. The fact is that the applicant has to work for selling and rarely get any experienced sales people or contacts within the medical community. A fierce follow up by the promoter by sending materials to promote the business such as brochures, application forms, demonstration CDs, agreement requirements, testimonials, normally from the hired by the promoter to give a favourable reply to you in case you pay attention to such testimonials and reference lists. Investment may vary from $1,000 to $10,000 for which you get in return will be software and some support services. Few of them might be able to find clients, start a business and generate some revenues fighting to get back their investment. Medical billing market is facing a fierce competition and mainly in the possession of large and well-established players.

Another study on the envelope stuffing work marketed as Work at Home with nominal fees to teach the technique, it will be too late for somebody who is interested in such business understand that the promoters do not offer any employment and have to get back the investment by placing the same ad of envelope-stuffing work. The investment will bring some fortune if you are able to attract the people to the ad.

Another area of huge investment and no return noticed in the business of assembling and crafting works. Many often, the so called business requires thousands of dollars investment for buying equipment, supply network or to spend many hours to produce goods for a company and as required to be competitive in the market, the product has to meet the quality standards, if not, the companies refuse to take the material or pay for the work.

To identify and escape from fraudulent operators one has to check what tasks have to be performed with every step of the proposed job, whether the program is based on a salary or commission, who will pay, what is the payment mode and when will get the first payment for the work Most importantly, the investment requirements like one-time fee, equipment or supply network, if required.

According to a report on Internet Scams Fraud Trends January-December 2005 shows that young people, under 30, were the victims of fraudulent business plans and shared 1% or kits worth $1,785 sold on false promises of big profits from working at home business.

Even though fraudulent operators still using web sites as their main medium of operation for attracting people to their business, 24% of work-at-home schemes and 36% fraudulent business and franchise transactions took place through emails, while Nigerian money offers was the major fraud with 97% and 28% bogus credit cards.