The Internet has brought the world closer. It has made it an even smaller place than most could possibly have imagined as little as ten to fifteen years ago, even when satellites were beaming the worlds highs and lows into our lounge rooms every day. Even the venue has become smaller. The world isn't appearing in our lounge rooms so much now as the corner of our bedrooms or, for those fortunate enough, home offices. The Internet has changed our lives by giving us new words and new ways of speaking. While eating the evening meal, some of us find ourselves asking for the 'www.salt.com'. It has brought benefits to every single person who has the ability to access it but with those benefits, the new language and the information at our fingertips, it has also brought danger and risk.

There is much written about the dangers of hate, racism, some aspects of pornography and just plain 'unwholesome' content. However, those that are serious about ensuring that they and especially their children are protected, there are programs and settings, which will block out all but the most harmless of websites.

It has brought the virus, spam and spyware, which for a time, threatened to make a complete shambles of the whole Internet experience. But technology, awareness and the law have stepped in and, although these 'evils' will probably always be with us, they can at least be controlled.

One of the benefits that the Internet has presented is the proliferation of products and services, which can be purchased online. This has spawned a whole new industry, other than those that manufacture and sell these items in the real world - the Home Based Business. People to make, promote, market, refer and sell anything that can be bought. The Internet Payment Facilitators have arrived to make sure the banks don't get a 'look in' and spoil the fun, with their exorbitant merchant credit card account fees and crippling trading costs. No, accepting all manner of payments over the Internet securely is easy and all but free, compared to what the banks would try if they had the opportunity. For the person seeking a Home Based Business opportunity, things have never been so simple and less expensive, from a business point of view.

People have always worked from home, that is, lucky people have always worked from home. It is now possible for anyone who has a PC and a quiet corner of a room. It's not as easy as that but it's possible for people who never imagined that they could enjoy such a luxury as earning their living (or even more) at their leisure, at home with their families, regardless of who they are or what their background. But sadly, this last aspect is part of a major problem. 'No matter who they are or what their background'.

In the real world it matters who you are and what your background is. Admittedly, due to discrimination, this can often be unfair but at least we know who and what we are up against. Not so on the Internet. Everyone is a faceless, nameless 'non-entity'. Someone can take hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a product or service and simply not be there tomorrow, leaving the 'out of pocket' very little recourse when it comes to recovering their money or even seeking a level of justice.

When you combine the faceless dishonest with the millions seeking a way to make their home business dream a reality, you have a recipe for many tears. Consequently, people have become far less trusting and, in turn, the dishonest have become more cunning. The result is that those who are honestly seeking to make a living online are having to invent more genuine and convincing ways to assure their prospective customers that their website is one of the 'good' ones, that their product is genuine and worthwhile. They use testimonials, money back guarantees and expensive memberships of associations to vouch for their trustworthiness. But the dishonest use exactly the same things, so where do we all stand? In a 'faceless crowd', not knowing who is friend and who is not. Not knowing if we are dealing with, or even communicating with who we think we are, if we have any idea at all.

There is no solution other than for the law enforcement people and the 'watchdog agencies' to do what they can do with their limited powers. For penalties for such behavior to be severe enough as to serve as a deterrent, but that will probably work as well as it does in the real world, where at least, we have more of a chance to face and judge for ourselves, the level of a person's sincerity or reliability.

The only other means to combat the dishonest is awareness. There is advice aplenty for how people should go about starting, maintaining and succeeding in their Home Based Business. When approached about such advice or in my ebook or article writings, I am inclined to place one particular tenet above all the others. One that cannot be expressed clearly enough or pressed home too forcefully. So, I'll do it here, again - PLEASE BE CAREFUL, BEWARE - we are each one in a crowd of millions of faceless, nameless, for all intents and purposes unaccountable entities and even though I know in my heart that ninety nine percent are honest and genuine, sadly, it's just not enough.