How to spot and avoid employment scams.

You’ve heard it a hundred times: When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. But human nature dictates that we usually believe what we want to believe. Crooks count on that and an increasing number are peddling their fraudulent fare to weary job seekers. If week after week and resume after resume finds you still unemployed, making a lot of money while working at home probably sounds like an answer to your prayers. How can you tell the legitimate job opportunities from employment scams?

Beware the required deposit. Many of the ads offering work at home processing emails or medical records, posting ads online or stuffing envelopes, require you to submit a deposit before you start work. This may be called a “fee” for training materials, processing or for the purchase of supplies. If the job requires you to pay to get it, it is not a legitimate job.  In a real job, you get paid to work.

Be careful of the term “Business Opportunities. Companies like Mary Kay or Avon all require an investment for materials to “start up your own business.” You become a type of independent business owner and some companies are legitimate. Before you reach into your pocket though, check out the veracity of such companies by doing a little research.
Check out the businesses at :

  • Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
    The FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) keep a current list of job-hunting related internet schemes.
  • Looks Too Good To Be True.com
    This site tips you off about Internet scams and fraud and is a partnership between the United States Postal Service and the FBI.
  • domainwhitepages.com.
    Most scammers have a domain name (the www.address) that is less than six months old. Type in the domain name and look at the “Creation Date.” If it’s new, you may have a scammer.
  • Report Online Scams
    Go here to rat out the rats and benefit from other people’s experiences.

They ask for personal information. You will get interviewed and Happy Day! You will be hired. Then you will be asked to provide bank account information to set up automatic deposits of your “pay”. Don’t give it! A real freelance opportunity will require you to become an independent contractor, receiving a 1099 at the end of the year to pay taxes (instead of a W-2) and will send you appropriate tax forms to fill out. A contract, with a verifiable business address—not a PO Box—is a good idea too. You should opt to have checks sent to you—or, if you have client’s overseas—they may require you set up a PayPal account. If you choose to do so,  monitor all deposits and withdrawals closely. You should also consider linking your PayPal account to a separate bank account—not your main checking or savings account–and then keep good tabs on all activity through online banking. Also you might invest $29.95 for a PayPal Security Key. That is a random numeric password generator that allows only you to access your PayPal account. (If your PayPal account gets hacked, PayPal can be convinced to send you one for free.)

The title might be a tip-off. If the job calls for “Transaction Processing Assistant”, “Reshipping Agent”, “Goods Forwarding Executive” or “Processing Online Auction Listings”, it may involve you receiving (processing) ) counterfeit or redirected checks, forwarding stolen goods or the proceeds from selling stolen goods to a third party. Research all such listings at FakeChecks.org which  lists current scams incorporating check fraud.

The format sounds alarms. Most scammers use spam messages to entice a “mark” (that’s you, if you respond to them.) You’ll get directed to an enticing website with formatting that can serve as a red-flag–lots of photos of luxury items or high-end vacations, very long texts (you scroll and scroll) before getting to “the deal”, many testimonials from “Mary M” or “Bob T” or other names you could never check, text that is misspelled or uses huge fonts or many exclamation points, assurances throughout that “this is not a scam” (Shakespeare warned us here when he wrote,”Methinks thou dost protest too much.”)

Promises of way too much money or too few requirements are made. If the job promises $10,000 a week or “hundreds of dollars an hour,” or requires only that you have a computer with internet access, it’s a fake. If it were real, we’d all be sitting at home, working in our PJs.

Also remember, the cons aren’t all in cyberspace. Realize that not all scams are not online; more and more, classified sections of your local and national newspapers are filled with them, too.

Use your common sense and don’t let your frustration with the job hunt cause you to let your guard down. Things are looking up on the employment front and a little more perseverance will see you gainfully employed and not just another scam victim.

Let Arrow Staffing help get you that real job. Contact us today.

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