Job search scams look very appealing, and even smart people "fall" for them. The result can be loss of the money you do have, trouble with the IRS or other law enforcement agency, and identity theft when your SSN is provided to the fake "employer." Trust AFTER you verify!
Don't expect to get paid if you fall for one of these scams, even if you do some "work" for them. You could face very unpleasant consequences in the loss of your identity, loss of your money, and, if they get your unwitting cooperation in a crime, loss of your freedom and good name.
Online Job Search Scams?
You will find these scams in e-mail sent to you by people you don't know, posted on Websites you know and trust, and also on Websites you think you've heard of or you have never heard of. The major sources are described further below, on this page.
The goals of these scams are to make money for the scammers through:
- Selling the information they collect from you to spammers and identity thieves.
- Getting access to your bank account so they can take money out of it.
- Your cooperation in an illegal activity for their benefit, like receiving and then re-shipping stolen property.
- Having you to send/transfer your money to them.
These are the general categories of scams. New scams do pop up all the time, so this is not, unfortunately, a complete list.
For more information on job search scams, read the "Related Articles" in the box on the right.
Where Are the 5 Major Types of Job Search Scams?
1. E-mail
Maybe it's an email claiming they found your resume on Monster or CareerBuilder or their company Website, etc., but they claim that they think you might be just the candidate for this particular job. You might not even remember applying (and probably you didn't apply) or remember seeing the employer's name. All you need to do to get the job is...
Be very wary of an email from an anonymous employer or recruiter. Regardless of the logos and names thrown around in the email message, their email address should have the employer's or the recruiting company's domain name in it. If the employer is NETability, Inc. the email address should contain the domain name for that employer, as in BillSmith@netability.com. Don't trust BillSmith@yahoo.com or BillSmith@gmail.com.
2. Bogus Jobs Apparently from Legitimate Employers
The job posting or the Website claim to be a well-known employer. But they aren't. It's a scam that is really using corporate identity theft - scammers are pretending to be the real employer advertising bogus jobs that are completely unrelated to the legitimate employer named in the posting or on the site.
3. Bogus Jobs on Legitimate Websites
The Website may be your favorite well-known brand name job board, Craigslist, or your professional association's "career center." I've also seen it be Google, Twitter, Facebook or your favorite social networking site.
Frankly, I wouldn't trust the jobs posted on any Website 100%, with the exception of USAJOBS.gov, and then I'd be sure that I was viewing a page of USAJOBS.gov by checking the URL in my browser. [Read Understanding Domain Names for information on how to be sure what domain you're viewing.]
These days, the people running Websites which have job postings must work hard to make sure that they don't allow fake jobs to be posted on their sites. Unfortunately, not all of the job boards have caught on to that need, some don't do a great job, and sometimes they are fooled by the scammers, too.
4. Bogus Job Boards/Resume Boards
These can be hard to spot. The Website may look very professional, but their only goal is to collect as much personal information from you as possible. These sites usually require you to "register" before you can see the job postings, but they may allow you to select the "job" you want first and then collect your information. There may - or may not - be any jobs (bogus or legitimate) posted on these sites.
5. Bogus Employer Websites
As with the bogus job boards, the bogus employer Website may look very snazzy and professional, but "no one is home." Jobs are posted for job seekers to apply for. Usually they only want your personal information and will most likely request your Social Security Number and/or bank account number for "pre-screening."
As in # 2, above, I've also seen a Website that looks like it's from Google (Google's logo is on the site and the name Google is widely used on the site), but it definitely was not Google. And the "jobs" unfortunately weren't with Google either. Just another scammer site.
For More Information
Good, reliable information about job search scams is also available here:
As the wise old police sergeant from Hill Street Blues warned at the start of each shift, "Be careful out there!"
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About the author...
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff "graduate" who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.
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