With over 20 million having recently lost work, scammers could swallow many stimulus checks.
They tell you that there’s an exquisite job expecting you. Just fill out a form and send money.
Often there’s no real job. Phony offers snag thousands, regulators and employment pros warn.
“These scams are everywhere. Job scams are the No. 1 scam nationally, because they affect some many of us . Male, female, the old, the young,” said Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the higher Business Bureau (BBB) for Metro ny .
Indeed, the “median dollar loss to consumers through 2019 was $1,500, up from $1,204 in 2018,” consistent with BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report. within the same period, employment scams within the Metro ny region went from third to second within the top scam categories.
These scams, says another expert, take many forms.
“For example, a corporation reaching out, sometimes just wants to form contact with a candidate in order that they can hit their own metrics or to get additional leads,” said Jason Deneu with Robert Half Technology.
Other times, job seekers are conned into delivering money.
“Employers and employment firms shouldn’t ask you to buy the promise of employment ,” says the Federal Trade Commission.
How can one identify a fraud?
“If the person reaching out can’t offer any true insight into the role, or share the corporate name, then be leery,” Deneu said. “Always do some research on these companies; look them up online, ask state authorities that they really exist,” adds BBB’s Rosenzweig.
And here are another red flags.
Job offers from strangers: If someone offers you employment without getting an application from you initially , meeting you, or doing an interview, it’s a scam.
High buy simple work: Be wary if ads, e-mails, or callers promise to pay tons for jobs that don’t seem to need much effort, skill or experience. Usually such offers are scams.
