The rise of the Internet has made it very convenient for users to conduct efficient job searches, but with so many scammers out there taking advantage of job hunters during this seemingly tough job market, wariness is in order 24/7.
Just recently, a 24-year-old man from Lehigh Acres, Florida responded to an ad on Craigslist for local employment, merely to become a statistic in a chain of similar recent scams.
Apparently, the advertisement on Craigslist offered 15 to 20 hours of work as a personal assistant at a pay rate of $500 per week. The victim was mailed a check for $2,890 and instructed to keep $500 per week for himself and to forward the balance to an address in Dubai. The check came from Vermont Federal Credit Union. He subsequently attempted to cash the check at a local check-cashing store, but was informed that the check was counterfeit.
The unemployment rate recently fell to 8.1 percent, its lowest level in more than three years, yet there are still 12.5 million unemployed Americans.
Here are some ways you can avoid [online] job scams:
- Be suspicious of a "boss" who changes his story frequently, won't meet with you in person or refuses to give you a detailed job description.
- Be wary of an "employer" who demands that you pay in advance for something as a condition of employment
- Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly says: BEWARE of jobs that promise easy money for little work
- When scanning ads, be attentive to any signs of broken English and poor grammar. Crooks reveal their laziness this way.
- Take your time reading the contract. Don't be caught up in a rush to pay for services. Stay away from high-pressure sales pitches that require you to pay now or risk losing out on an opportunity.
- Don't allow a brand to fool you. Scammers will use brand names sometimes, hoping that you will let your guard down. Many companies post warnings on their websites that expose scam attempts made in their name.
- Offers that involve cashing checks you get in the mail and then wiring money to a foreign country is most definitely a SCAM. This includes mystery shopping job offers. The checks are fake and will bounce, and the money you wired will be taken from your bank account instead.
- Don't send money to anyone you don't know and trust, especially people you've never met in-person.
Bottom line: If a job you find on line sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research and make sure the company is legit before you proceed.
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