Job Scams - What to Look for, What to Avoid and Tips for Safe Jobhunting
posted October 1, 2009 - 9:53am
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE VERY, VERY UGLY
Scambusters – What to Look for, What to Avoid and Tips for Safe Jobhunting
Current estimates are that around 3 million people fall prey to
Work at Home scams each year….that’s a lot of people, and a lot of money they lose!
Let’s start with what the FBI has to say about the perils of scammers and ID thieves:
A CAUTIONARY TALE (Get Hired – Not Scammed)
In the market for a new job? The Internet has made it easier than ever to find one. It’s also made it easier for criminals to find you.
Think about it: What do you do when you apply for a job? You give out all kinds of personal information: your name, address, home and work telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, sometimes even your date of birth and social security number. Just what you’d want to know if you’re an identity thief or other criminal.
It’s no wonder I’m investigating all kinds of cases involving online job scams. Here are a few examples I’ve seen of what can happen to you:
You respond to an online job ad. You’re contacted via e-mail for a fake interview. Then, you’re asked for bank account information in order to “direct deposit” your paychecks. Guess what? It’s all a ruse…and the crooks drain your account. You get an e-mail from a recruiter or company that’s hiring wanting to know all your personal details for a pre-employment background check. Same drill—that information is used to steal your identity. You post your résumé online with your social security number and other personal information. Criminals find it and use the information to get fake credit cards and loans…in your name. You respond to an online job ad for a “correspondence manager” or “import/export specialist.” You’re hired…and asked to ship products for your employer overseas. Turns out, it’s a reshipping scam. The items you shipped were purchased online using stolen credit cards…and you’ve shipped them illegally to thieves in Nigeria and other countries. What can you do to avoid being scammed? Firstly, practice safe surfing by taking the following steps:
THINK TWICE about telling all on your online résumé. Do you really need to provide detailed personal information? Consider posting your résumé more anonymously…with an e-mail address as your primary contact point. NEVER provide a potential employer with your bank account or credit card information, a scan of your driver’s license or other ID, or a detailed physical description of yourself. That’s just asking for trouble. NEVER pay upfront for any job opportunity (they’re supposed to be paying you!) and never forward, transfer, or wire money to a prospective employer. BE WARY of job listings with misspellings, grammatical mistakes, and terms such as “money transfers,” “wiring funds,” “package-forwarding,” and “import/export specialist.” Those are big clues that something is amiss. And what if—heaven forbid—you do fall for one of these cons?
Do damage control immediately: Close all bank and e-mail accounts linked to the fraud Contact the three major credit bureaus to place fraud alerts on your credit files and to regularly monitor your credit reports for unusual activity Help clean up the ‘net by reporting the fraud to the job site where the scam was posted and by filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center. This is great advice from the FBI and shouldn’t be ignored. However, in times of economic hardship, many teleworkers are so desperate for employment that they unconsciously ignore the warning flags, or are willing to take that chance – because the job really seems too good to be true. In addition, the scammers can smell fresh meat and become smarter in drawing you in!
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE – IT IS A SCAM!
Don’t let your heart and need for work rule your head. Common sense and a dose of cynicism can work wonders. Fully investigating and finding out the good, bad and ugly of any potential home-based employer is key. The internet is our greatest source of help. People exposed to work at home scams are always keen to post their experiences online.
The following are 2 great resources for doing your research:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)www.ftc.gov The FTC targets work-at-home scammers. Visit the website and see if there is any info on your prospective employer or opportunity you are considering
www.fraud.org has info about which employers are subject to civil or criminal actionThe FTC has four free consumer publications, Net-Based Business Opportunities: Are Some 'Flop-portunities'?, Could 'Biz Opp' Offers Be Out For Your Coffers?, Answering the Knock of a Business 'Opp,' and Can You Recognize a Business Opportunity Fraud. They are available on the Internet at http://www.ftc.gov/bizopps.
….and here are a few of my tips:
READ THE DETAILS – you need more information from them (the employer) than they want from you…make sure you ask for (and get) all the info you need to satisfy yourself that the job is real before sending anything to a prospective employer.
Be wary of any employer who advertises on a community website of the “For Sale and Wanted” type. They may not want to give you their details!
Do not trust any ad which gives very little information about the role but expects you to provide a resume. Request more information from the employer first. If you are not satisfied with the information they then give you – stop right there. I nearly got caught with one of these. I spotted a job ad on Craigslist, which advertised a role as being for one of the big box electronics stores. The job advert requested resumes and full contact information from the applicant. However, after reading through the advert and noticing that it didn’t actually specify the name of this “big box” firm – I realized that:
No large international store is going to advertise on Craigslist and request that you submit a resume and personal information without them providing you with a specific contact or department – they’ll either do it via their own website or post an ad showing their logo and other pertinent contact information The ID thief had copied the employment material from the store’s own website and had posted it on Craigslist without permission and had put only the generic email-response address on the ad.I decided to test my theory and email the poster – requesting more information. The reply was “please email me your resume and I will then link you to a site in which you can complete the application”………Yeah, right.
NEVER APPLY FOR “FULL TIME MONEY FOR PART TIME WORK” JOBS
If these things were real – we’d all be working 2 hours a week and living as millionaires. Totally false, a complete scam – and designed to part you from your money!
DON’T APPLY FOR THE REALLY EASY SOUNDING ROLES
….e.g. letter stuffing, at home assembly, etc.
Let’s face it – which legitimate firm will pay you $2 for each envelope you stuff when they could outsource it to a 3rd world country for much, much less? REALLY EASY = FAKE.
NEVER PAY AN APPLICATION FEE IN ORDER TO GET A JOB
No matter how great the opportunity sounds – don’t buy the book that will show you how to get it all (you know, written by the industry expert you’ve never heard of), don’t buy an email list of clients or marketing list or list of employers who employ work at home typists (for example), don’t make an “investment” in a pack to get you started and don’t pay ANY application fees of any sort for any kind of job…If they want money from you – they’re not looking to employ you.
BE WARY OF SOME “SCAMBUSTING” WEBSITES
Some websites, which at first glance seem to provide impartial scambusting information, then still link to 3rd party advertising or recommend supposed real business opportunities. In most of these cases – the opportunities still require you to pay a fee, which totally negates the purpose of the website!...but think about it, these guys have to make a buck somewhere…so it may as well be from you!
Don’t then be drawn in to what appears to be a great opportunity – especially if the website has accepted paid marketing from work at home advertisers. There are a few websites which are impartial and do have to accept some form of advertising in order to stay up and running – but these websites will let you know straightaway what their policies are and what they will and won’t allow on their sites.
SO WHAT ARE THE MOST ‘POPULAR’ WORK AT HOME SCAMS
(aka the very, very, very ugly)?
1. Reshipping Agent
2. US-Based Money Transfer Agent (for overseas individuals) - it’s dirty and illegal – even if it does seem okay
3. Medical Billing
4. Assembly Jobs
5. Data Entry Jobs (You'll see lots of listings for data entry jobs (positions posting ads encouraging you to buy a sales kit!))
6. Some “Multi-Level Marketing” opportunities (MLM). Some MLM schemes are indistinguishable from pyramid selling in some countries. Pyramid selling is illegal in the UK and many other nations.
7. Online Businesses
8. Posting Ads
9. Processing Claims
10.Stuffing Envelopes
11. Paid Surveys
12. Mystery Shoppers
So, we’ve looked at the Bad and the Very, Very Ugly – but what about the Good?
THE GOOD…..THE SITES THAT WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE SCAMS
The following sites will give you in depth, detailed information on what home based scams (like those above) involve, and how they get you! Check them out.
You may ask why only a few good websites are listed above. That’s because many supposed scambusting websites accept many dubious paid marketing links and therefore I will only list websites which provide truly impartial information.
Kristy Pruitt, the author of the Work At Home Scam Blog is passionate in her anti-scam crusade (www.workathomescamguide.com). If you do a Google search for Kristy, you will find her smart, objective and honest blogs on various sites – all of her blogs are intended to help you evaluate the work you are considering, avoid the scams and provide useful consumer information just in case you do fall prey.
Don’t be discouraged by all the negative information you read here or elsewhere. It’s my aim to help you arm yourself with the information you need to be more knowledgeable and cautious in your job seeking. Many legitimate firms (large international corporations or large local employers) use homeworkers on a shift basis as incoming-phone based customer service reps or order takers or data entry operators. Think of the firms who will need such staff – credit card companies, airlines, international flower services, concierge firms, etc.
So, for example, whilst many data entry jobs will be scams – there will be a lot that aren’t.
ABOVE ALL – TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCT – if it doesn’t feel right – it isn’t. If you have even the slightest doubt – don’t put your identity, your finances and everything else at risk – turn away. That real job (the one worth waiting for) will come – even though you may have to wait – so don’t get disheartened.
© 2008 Maria Daly (formerly Telework International LLC)
To read all of my articles at Xomba just click on: http://www.xomba.com/user/mdaly
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Comments
Job Scammers
Good advice, no legitimate employer should make you pay a fee just to apply or get the job. Thanks,
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