Latest Job Scams - If it Sounds Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is

With the advent of the Internet, and Internet-based job websites, people looking for jobs have an easier time finding them. Many employers now utilize the Internet in their hiring process. However, because of the open nature of the Internet, unscrupulous characters are also utilizing the Internet in order to take advantage of people who are seeking employment. From fake companies that utilize applicants information for opening credit cards to con artist that convince applicants to send money to start new businesses, the range and number of job scams appears to be on the rise.

The main basis of many of these scams is the offer to work from home. They also do not usually require any type of interview - you apply for the job, and you are hired within a short period of time. From this point on, newly-hired employee are in danger of losing either hundreds of dollars, or risk having their credit damaged or destroyed. According to a article in MSNBC, on-line jobs scams were responsible for $500 million dollars in losses between July 2002 and December 2003. Updated statistics would probably find that this continues to be a growing problem, since more and more companies have moved their hiring process to the Internet.

One of the most common Internet job scams involve being an intermediary for a company. In this role, an employee is hired and is responsible for receiving either merchandise or checks via mail to their home address. They are then suppose to either re-ship the product, or cash the check and wire the money via wire transfer to a foreign address. Unbeknown to the employee, they are either sending products that have been bought via stolen credit card information, or they are cashing checks drawn off of non-checking accounts. Usually, weeks later, they are notified that they are responsible for products they never bought, or that they owe money for checks that have been returned to their bank.

The check scam is especially scrupulous because the check is usually drawn off of an account that is active. A bank customer service representative may verify the funds via phone with the employees' bank, but may not at the time realize that the account is not an account checks can be drawn off of. If the check is return, it still does not matter - the employee is still considered responsible.

There are a couple of current ongoing scams involving the secret shopping industry. Secret shopping involves visiting various retail companies and rating their employees' service performance. The most common scam in this business involves sending in an application with an application fee. Many times, applicants never hear anything else about their application. Or, they are just sent information about how to apply for these jobs. Another more financially devastating scams involves cashing a check, then sending the money to a company to "secret shop" the actual wire service, such as MoneyGram or Western Union. The employee is then suppose to keep a portion of the check for payment, but soon finds out that they are responsible for the whole check amount.

So, how do you avoid these scams? One of the best things to do is to remember the old adage - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Many of these scam jobs offer high incomes for relatively low amounts of effort from the employee.

Another clue is if the employer does not require an interview, or is located is foreign-located, this is a potential warning.

Misspelling in company correspondence, or incorrect grammar is another clue. Most legitimate companies will not send potential English-speaking customers information that is not grammatically correct.

If a company is requiring your personal information with out revealing their own (i.e. telephone contact number, address, etc.) this is another big clue.

Finally, search on-line to see if the company is legitimate. Although some new scam-based companies may not have any information on them, it is still a good idea to search for any potential problems.

Job scams will probably continue to be an ongoing problem so it is important that job seekers be vigilant during their job search to avoid falling victim to these and many other on-line scams.

MSNBC.com, Online Job Scammers Steal Millions, Dec 17th, 2003