Are there really such a thing as online businesses or work at home jobs?

there are such jobs, however they don't advertise. Any ads you see are scams.

Yea the work at home field is overrun by scam artists offering training or employer lists for jobs that don't exist. Take care, secret shopper or payment processor jobs can end up making you criminally responsible for bounced checks. Search the web for affiliate marketing, freelance professional, blogging income. Spend some time on the forums discussing these activities to learn about some of the online business possibilities, you may get some friendly advise, along with rude impatient comments. Most of these business ventures involve months of development time, some end up with web site properties that produce residual income with a minimum of maintenance. Some of the tutorial packages for creating an ebay, or affiliate marketing business may have exaggerated sales pages, written by a marketer not actually involved in the production. I have found the inside more realistic than the barker's pitch at the entrance.

There are many work at home opportunities, but the internet is rife with scams, so BEWARE, Take your time and research well. There is a wealth of information on the internet, a lot of it free eg free tutorials, e books and videos. do not Spend at this point. You will see a lot of "get rich quick" schemes, promising unrealistic income potential. Keep away from these. Get familiar with the internet marketing termonology . Research niche marketing, keyword importance etc. Take your time. Good Luck