Job Offer Scams Growing as Fast as the Unemployment Rate

The recent downturn in the economy has not only greatly increased the ranks of the unemployed but also has resulted in a significant drop in the number of listings on the job boards. With job seekers experiencing longer periods between jobs and often run out of unemployment benefits desperation sets in. Any type of job to generate some income looks attractive. As such, there are unscrupulous characters out there that are all too ready to take advantage of others in a desperate situation.

As the numbers of layoffs have been increasing over the past year, there has been an equal if not greater growth in the number of employment scams being posted on job boards. Many of these scam positions are posted primarily on Craigslist because the fee to list a job there is less expensive than other web sites. Though, other boards such as Yahoo HotJobs, Monster.com, and other popular job sites are certainly not immune either

Though there are a number of different scams, they have several elements in common. First of all, the requirements of the "job" are rather easy. They do not require any special skills and can be done by almost anyone. As such, these jobs appeal to the widest audience possible. Secondly, the "job" does not require a major time commitment and can be done even in your spare time. And thirdly, at one point or another, it will involve a Western Union money transfer transaction, though, that may not be obvious at the outset.

The more common scheme is listed as an opening for a "regional" or "national" sales or "finance" director . The "employer" bills itself as a foreign company with a headquarters in a Central European country. Often, to assure the reader of their legitimacy, they say that they are registered in Florida and list their corporate "registration" number to show that they are legally entitled to do business in the US. They claim, however, that because they are located abroad, they cannot open a bank account in the US and are therefore in need of a local or regional representative who could collect all the checks from their US clients, and then send the money back to headquarters. For his effort, the local representative gets to keep a "commission", usually ten percent of the total collected which could easily add up to $2500 - $10,000 a month for this small service.

The setup is as follows. The company's clients forward their payment by overnight courier to the job seeker's home address , who in turn is supposed to deposit the checks into their personal checking account and cash them out at once. They stress that the money should be deposited in an existing account, and not a newly set up account to avoid possible delays in cashing the check. The cash, minus the commission and applicable Western Union fees, must then immediately be forwarded by Western Union to the employer. Once the wire transfer has been made, the job seeker is supposed to email the Western Union transaction number immediately after he has sent the money.

To someone who has been unemployed and is in need of income to buy the bare necessities and struggling to make a mortgage payment, this seems to be a fairly simple way to obtain some quickly needed funds. It sounds too good to be true. Of course, it is.

For one, if the company truly was registered and licensed to do business in any state of the US, and have a tax ID, they should have no problem setting up a business account with most banks. The company's alleged clients do not really exist: they are part of the rip off operation. The clients' checks are always sent by overnight courier because it permits the con men to track the shipment and permits them to get notified by an automated delivery confirmation email from the courier company when the check is delivered at the job seeker's address.

The con artists rely upon the fact that the job seeker will follow instructions to the letter . When the job seeker emails them the Western Union transaction number, the scammers immediately collect the cash at a Western Union location. The check that the victim had cashed is no good, however, and will bounce a couple of days later and the deposit will be reversed from the account 's balance, including possible service and overdraft fees. The job seeker is left holding the bag because the "employer" and their "clients" suddenly have disappeared from the face of the earth.

A second variant of this scheme appears during the summer vacation months and the year end holiday period. In this case, a foreign business man or diplomat is looking for a chauffeur to drive his wife and children when they vacation in the US. . Here again, anyone could do the job. No mention of driving skills in the post, or even a need for a vehicle. The scam's victim will receive a check which he is to cash. The amount on the check, however, is for several times the compensation promised. The executive explains that he did not want to send multiple checks to save on courier costs and Because the executive wanted to save on th In this instance too, the employer will send the job applicant a cashiers' check which he is to cash. The driver is told to keep $800 as his compensation to drive the family around for a the three or four of days, and the remainder should be sent immediately by Western Union to their "travel agent" who can then make the flight and hotel arrangements.

For the rest, the scam is almost identical to the previous one. Once again, the give-away that this is a scam is that there is no reason why the employer could easily have sent the money directly to his travel agent. Why use an intermediary? Now the use of a cashier's check should inspire confidence, but they are often drawn on a small bank in the Midwest, though, some are drawn on major national banks. But upon receipt of the cash by Western Union, the cashier's check will immediately be reported as having been stolen or lost and once again, when the check is returned back as unpaid, the victim is left holding the bag.

In the next scheme, a market research company is searching for "mystery shoppers" in the area. Basically, all the mystery shopper is to go to a local business, purchase something or obtain a service, and then fill out a report about the quality of customer service. This job pays on average $30 per hour, the marketing company will pay for the services or items purchased, and, the mystery shopper gets to keep the items purchased. This seems legitimate enough. That is, until the first assignment comes through.

As the first assignment, the mystery shopper is asked to evaluate the customer service delivered by.... Western Union. Once again, a check is delivered by overnight courier. In this specific case, the scammers are a bit less sophisticated. The return address does not show the marketing company's name but one of a flower store. The check inside has been made out by a shipping company in a totally different area of the country. But the instructions remain the same. Cash the check, and send the money by Western Union. Interestingly enough, they do not enclose any forms or instructions on how to do the customer survey. It is apparent that this operation lacks a bit of sophistication.

Over the past six months, these "job offers" have appeared with increasing frequency. The scammers are even becoming bolder and are harvesting email addresses from job seekers that have resumes posted on the major online job boards. They contact the job seeker by email with the promising title: "We saw your resume and have a position for you". The job offered, however, is mostly always one similar to the once described above. Whether the job is being posted online or offered by email, job hunters are well advised to stay away from anything that seems to be lucrative and requiring little effort, and involves transactions via Western Union.