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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 10:58 am
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We’ve all seen news reports or even social media posts sharing about job scams. Well, it seems they are on the rise again.
I think we are all familiar with the common ones that are for secret shoppers or work-from-home offers that sound too good to be true. I was scrolling through Tiktok the other day and saw a woman’s video sharing about a few job scams she had come across via popular job boards. The bad thing is she thought it was legit and applied.
scammers use job boards
Scanners can use popular job boards such as Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Monster. Some of these scam or even fake jobs might sound great. They may be a work-from-home job or in person.
The thing is some of these job listings may look very professional. They may offer decent pay and even benefits.
How can you tell it’s a scam job?
Sometimes you can’t tell right away. if the listing is professional. You may not know it’s a scam until after you apply.
Always do your research about the company listing the job before applying. You can do a quick internet search to see if the company has any employee ratings or general reviews.
scam job signs
Here are a few signs to look out for when applying for a job.
If the job sounds too good to be true
It doesn’t matter if it’s a full-time or part-time position. If the job seems too good to be true always think twice before applying.
I know there are many work-from-home jobs being offered now that sound rather easy such as data entry or transcription. These are legit jobs but if they are paying you top for minimal hours that should be a red flag.
If you are contacted out of the blue
I had this happen a few weeks ago. I was recovering from a cold and I couldn’t understand what the caller said she sort of mumbled the name of the company. She claimed that they found me online via a job board or that I had applied for the job.
I corrected her and asked a bit more about the job. It was a customer service job for what I guess was a charity.
The one thing that got me was that she kept insisting that their hiring manager wanted to chat with me as soon as possible. So basically they expected me to say yes to the job. Since I hadn’t applied for anything I thought something was off so I declined.
check spelling, Grammar, etc.
As with many scams, the spelling, grammar, or sentence structure may not make sense. If you don’t think the posting is right in any way report it to the platform.
If you have to pay for anything
This may not be known until after you apply but if you are asked to buy or pay for anything upfront think of it as a possible scam.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has a good posting about scam jobs.
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams#examples
Be suspicious
If you apply for a job and a rep contacts you always be a bit suspicious. If the company wants you to download anything such as an app to communicate with you or asks you to open a bank account or if you accept crypto. Always ask why.
In the Tiktok video, I saw the woman shared that the company rep had asked her to download Telegram for communicating with her. They also suggested she open a bank account during another discussion. So those should be red flags.
You can also be a bit suspicious of the hiring process. If you think the interview process is a bit odd or out of the ordinary think twice about accepting the job. I know that many companies were having virtual or phone interviews over the past few years.
Another red flag to look out for is if the hiring manager is a bit pushy. I’ve experienced this in the past. If they are determined you take the job I’d say go with your gut instinct. If the company rep asks for any ID or social security number off the bad also think before giving this info.
Also if the company rep is a bit vague with details of the job itself be wary about it.
Don’t fall prey to these job scams
remember if the job sounds too good to be true think twice before applying. The woman in the Tiktok video I saw stated that she was later contacted by the FBI stating that she was flagged for ID theft. I don’t know if that is true but you can take that info as you see fit.
