Many work-at-home opportunities are legit. Many aren’t. How do you tell the difference? Often, you can’t, unless you spend money for the details and/or contact the Better Business Bureau to see if there are complaints on file. The new June issue of Consumer Reports reports on three biz opps they tried.

Scam #1 advertised: “Stuff envelopes! Get paid $5 per envelope, up to $1,276.57 weekly...stuffing envelopes and mailing company circulars.” (Note the oddball dollar amount; it’s to make you think it’s real.) After paying $67 to the firm, CR was directed to a Web site with a guide on how to run classified ads selling a get-rich-quick report for $5 each. The report tells customers to do the same thing.

Scam #2 advertised: “Assemble products at home.” CR sent in $26 for a directory that listed companies seeking home assemblers. Selecting one at random, CR paid another $50 for a starter kit enabling them to assemble 24 fishing flies, for which they would be paid $12 “if they passed inspection.” Then, if they bought supplies in bulk for $840 more, they could assemble 3,048 flies and be paid $1,524. Bottom line: If all went well, they’d earn less than $3.35 an hour.

Scam #3 advertised: “Learn how to make $107,389 in six months, just filling out forms and doing searches on Google and Yahoo.” (Note the oddball amount here, too.) Bottom line: It would cost $3.88 “for shipping and handling” plus $72.21 a month to receive a CD and access to a Web site which, CR noted, “give disorganized information on selling on the Internet. The BBB has 478 complaints on file against the company related to unauthorized credit-card charges.”