We all know that every site on the internet is a target for possible scammers! The best way to stay safe is to learn their patterns, and spot them quickly! Knowing what job listings to avoid because of common themes used by those with malicious intent, can keep you, your bank account, your social media profiles, and your technology much safer!
These 12 Tips Can Help You Today!
Assume you may fall for a scam. Remain vigilant, it could happen to any of us, even younger users who feel tech savvy!
Check that they are using an official company website and have an online presence! You can also search for the job on their official website, to confirm it is a real listing!
Look in the email or website for signs of false representation. Are names misspelled, logos out of place, or does the job seem vague and too good to be true?
Check for reviews of the job or business online! Even a notoriously difficult or specific job will have some solid reviews, and likely have salary information listed on other sites as well. Compare what you learn from previous employees to what you see in the ad!
Read more about the company on the Better Business Bureau website! They have a scam tracker that can help, will have graded a company on its trustworthiness, and will show reviews also.
Remain skeptical of requests to provide sensitive personal data before onboarding! Make sure to verify the company’s authenticity FIRST and even then, don’t provide your information before officially being hired. Even for required background checks, you can often limit what you share to the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Most reputable companies have email addresses that feature some version of the company name after the @ symbol. If you see gmail, hotmail, yahoo or other email systems, be extra cautious!
Any job that expresses extreme urgency could be a scam. They are attempting to play on emotion to encourage you to disregard questions you may have!
They have a poor quality job ad! Look for mistakes like misspellings, and other grammatical errors. If an ad is too vague, it can be clear that they are trying to widen their pool to include as many targets as possible.
Any Monetary Transactions during the application process! It’s a huge red flag for companies to want you to pay for equipment or cash any checks, and doing so would likely create issues with your bank that could take months to resolve!
Contact initiated by them! It is unlikely that someone from a company will reach out to you directly, and offer you a position. If you are getting texts or suspicious emails, be careful!
Trust your gut! If a job posting gives you an uncomfortable feeling or something doesn’t feel right about it, beware!
I hope these tips can help you stay safe on your #jobsearch! By staying aware of common trends, you’ll be many steps ahead of the scammers out there!
#Jobsearch #Application #Interview #Jobscam #Watercooler #Workfromhome #Careerdiscovery #Aboutmyjob
#Jobscam - I got sucked into a job scam this morning!! I was dumb enough to go to store and purchase a prepaid Vanilla Visa Card for $100.00! I can't believe that I was desperate enough for a job to fall for it!! They claimed to be a company called Workiva, which is a legitimate company so when I researched it I thought all was good but boy was I wrong!!
People, please be careful in your #jobsearch and do not do what I did today!
Mas no Brasil só tem previlegio aquele que vem de outros pais
If you want to avoid the headache of getting scammed by a fake job offer, make sure you abide by these four rules:
- Do an online search. Look up the name of the company or the person who’s hiring you, plus the words “scam,” “review,” or “complaint.” You might find out they’ve scammed other people.
- Talk to someone you trust. Describe the offer to them. What do they think? This also helps give you vital time to think about the offer.
- Don't pay for the promise of a job. Legitimate employers, including the federal government, will never ask you to pay to get a job. Anyone who does is a scammer.
- Never bank on a “cleared” check. No legitimate potential employer will ever send you a check and then tell you to send on part of the money, or buy gift cards with it. That’s a fake check scam. The check will bounce, and the bank will want you to repay the amount of the fake check.
Have you ever dealt with a job scammer? What happened?
What is an obvious sign of a #jobscam? #jobsearch #advice
money sounds too good to be true
The "interview" is done via online chat...
Came across a not-so-new type of job scam. Hurts my heart to see when someone does fall for something similar. The other day I had time to burn as I was awaiting a real call back from a job I had interviewed for a week ago so why not see where this all goes. But a person texts my phone from a weird out-of-state number saying that they saw my resume on the workintexas.com website from someone claiming the name Linda Esquibel. Figured I would see what it was about considering I am currently looking for a job to work from home.
They started off claiming that they worked for Omada Healthcare. Referring me to another hiring manager that claimed his name was Marco Franco user tag for discord: Marco Franco#1182 for anyone who gets a text or email from these people).
Where the first red flag was "Hey do you have Discord?" Knowing that I do have an account, I promptly told them No to see what they were trying to do. Well needless to say they wanted to hold the interview via Discord chat (1st red flag). Used my alternate discord account to see how it would pan out. Needless to say, they were quick to respond and ask me several questions and give me their version of what the position would be that they felt I would be a great asset to them.
At the end of the conversation when I grew tired of the bull that they were trying to feed, the guy got super aggressive with wanting me to give all my information (2nd red flag) as we are almost 30 minutes into me feeding into the bull. My counter to him asking was, well most hiring managers will refer back to the resume for the additional information that they are looking for. As far as my banking information, that is never asked during an interview let alone a privacy act violation so no I do not feel comfortable relating any of this information considering that would be an HR type of thing (3rd red flag).
In the end, told him I knew it was a scam and had seen this on a similar basis from another friend, blocked him, reported him to the Work Source, sent into the actual company addressing that a scammer was using the companies name.
The Omada company did get back to me and told me that there have been a lot of recent scams in their name. People have told them that the scammers are asking for money for equipment or sending a bogus check for the unfortunate soul to put in their account and then wipe them of all their funds.
Be aware that interviews are not done through any messenger apps and if they do interview you it will be through a secure online portal that they will send you through or the regular phone interview. But just in case someone else comes across something like this you have been updated on the new tactics they are trying to use to get money out of people. #scam #unemployed #jobscam
received a job offer today I was very excited however they asked me to download a app called hangouts to do the interview the interview was very non traditional and had many unique questions but I pushed through. Then they said I was hired and asked for my Verizon wireless account email and password to order the products I needed at home. I called them out on it and they just told me to have a good day I wanted 2 hours of my time that I could have had a real interview very disappointed
Received an email stating something similar to "RESUME APPROVED" , and asking you to interview on Google Hangouts ? Take a minute and look at the email itself. Is it from a legitimate company email, or is it a Gmail account? That's red flag number 1.
This is a rather elaborate version of the check fraud scam, using mostly legitimate company names, with possibly an extra "-" or misspelling. A Google search will undoubtedly find the company name, as will a check on GlassDoor.com; however checking with the company will find that they don't hire remote help, they don't intend to open an office in your city, or that the person "hiring" you doesn't work there, or if the person exists at the company, they have no knowledge of the position you were offered. Red flag number 2.
How this is supposed to work is that you will engage in an "interview" on Google Hangouts, after which you will be told that you have been hired for an hourly rate for training, and then a larger amount for your "regular" wages. You will then be emailed supporting documentation, such as an offer letter and possibly direct deposit paperwork. In addition, you will be told that you need to purchase "office supplies" such as a laptop, printer, software, etc, however these things can only be purchased from their "approved" vendor. Red flag number 3 However, lucky for you, they will be sending you a large cashier's check to cover these expenses; upon receipt, you are to deposit the check in your personal account, and you are to keep X$ as your signing bonus, and then send the rest via wire to the vendor for your supplies.
In addition, you may be told that you need to buy I-Tunes cards so that the codes on the cards can be used to "unlock" their proprietary software.
None of this is true. They are after your bank information with the direct deposit form, then they are trying to have you deposit a counterfeit cashiers check in your bank account. The check may not come back immediately as a fake, however trust, it will. When the check bounces, you are then held legally responsible for the amount deposited, despite it being a fake check.
If by some misfortune, you have gotten to the check stage of this scam, take a moment and call the bank that the check is drawn on prior to depositing. Chances are that conveniently, there won't be a branch in your state. However, a quick check on the internet will provide a toll-free number for that bank's customer service.
Remember: a legitimate company will not be using a free email service such as Gmail, Hotmail, or similar. They will be using their own proprietary domain, such as USBank.com (used only as an example). In addition, a legitimate company will not be sending you a check for you to buy supplies "exclusively from their preferred vendor", or I-Tunes cards to "unlock" proprietary software. No legitimate company will ask for I-Tunes codes to unlock software, either.
Please take a few minutes to report this to the following authorities: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/Company#crnt , and https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
I hope I've managed to get this out in time for you to not be scammed.
If, unfortunately, you've already been taken, please contact the FTC and IC3, along with your local law enforcement.
I've been unemployed for a while now, so when I got a text on my phone telling me that my resume had been reviewed, and that they wanted to interview me on Google Hangouts, I didn't see anything wrong.
The details were, work at home customer service, 5 days of training at 8 hours a day for $12 an hour, then bumping me to $30 an hour for 8 hour days. In addition, they would be sending me a check (Red flag 1) to cover the setup of my home office, to include an HP Envy laptop, 3 in 1 printer, cell phone (which they would pay the monthly bill for) and software. When I said that I had all that equipment, I was told for warranty purposes, I needed to use their "approved" vendor in case something happened and work needed to be done. (Red flag 2). The company name they used was "Magnum Medical" out of Latvia.
Attempting due diligence, I Googled "Magnum Medical" and found their location in Latvia, in addition to a couple of locations in America, per websites. I then checked them on Glassdoor.com, and again, there was a page for them, but no real information. (Red flag 3)
So, they're supposed to FedEx me a check overnight. I was given the tracking number, and as it turned out, the package was being held at FedEx initially due to "incorrect address", which was changed to "irregularities on the account" by FedEx.
As I'm explaining this to the "supervisor", he tells me that while I'm waiting on the check, I need to go to the store and buy 2 $100 I-Tunes cards, so I can provide them with the serial numbers on the cards in order to "unlock" their proprietary software. (Red flag 4).
This was what ultimately confirmed the scam for me. I reported the issue to Apple, who confirmed it was a scam, and then I reported it to IC3, the FTC and the FBI.
Well, the check arrived today, and conveniently enough was drawn on an out of state bank - i.e. one with no branch offices in my state (Georgia). So I called their customer service line and was informed in no uncertain terms that the cashier's check was a fake.
Then they tried to contact me on Google Hangouts again, asking me if I'd received the check and to confirm the amount ($3650) and when I was going to deposit it.
I informed them that Comerica had verified that the check was fraudulent, at which point they attempted to deny that, and I shut them down with "look, we both know you're trying to run a scam. This entire conversation from the beginning has been recorded and sent to the FTC, IC3 and the FBI."
So, long story short, if someone gives you a job offer online, then offers to send you a check for "required office equipment" that you are to buy only from their "approved vendor", don't bother. This is a variation on the "overpay" check scam, and if you deposit the "cashier's check" you will be asked to wire a large portion of it to their "vendor", only to find that you'll have an empty bank account and possible criminal charges instead of the equipment you thought you'd ordered for a job that doesn't exist.
So please please be careful.
Recently my brother got a job with a company called "Civmec" and what he does is he will go to locations like Walmart and accept incoming money grams and then go to a different Walmart and send them to a specified location. He gets to keep 10% of the money gram as payment. This to me has a million red flags all over it. I treid to tell him its a scam first of all because he takes 10% and it's cash with no pay stubs or paper trail so there is no way to tax it and even a legit commission job has a form pay stubs. Also he is sending some of these to places like South Africa and Puerto Rico. He says that it's for their payroll but that's ridiculous also, why can't Civmec just send it to that address themselves. I told him that they are setting him up as the scapegoat for whatever they are doing but he still thinks they are a legit business. Please don't just tell me this sounds like a scam, I know it sounds like one. Is there anyone out there this has happened to before? Or can anyone find me solid proof this is a scam. I just don't want my brother in law to get in serious trouble with the law. Please help me.
Quero ganhar o suficiente para tratar de minha familha