How to avoid a job scam Do an online search. Search for the name of the company or person who hires you, in addition to the words “scam “, review or “complaint”. You might discover that other people have been scammed, talk to someone you trust. Don't pay for the promise of a job.
Never trust a “settled” check. Don't provide your bank account information until you've been hired. Scammers may ask for money or bank account information during the interview. A legitimate employer won't ask you for your bank details until you've signed a contract and set up direct deposit, and even then they'll ask you to verify only the bank name, account number and routing number or SWIFT code, but never your online banking username and password.
Be VERY careful when applying for a job when the employer is not named (often on sites like craigslist). Sometimes, recruiters post jobs without specifying the employer. Before providing any personal information (such as a resume), ask for the employer's name. You may be asked to send money directly as the initial cost of the job (this is almost always a scam and you should never pay to start a position).
Online fraudsters may ask you to receive money from them, keep some of it as payment for your time, and pass the rest to someone else (often via bank transfer). According to the FTC, information about federal jobs is always free and publicly available (they recommend using usajobs, gov) and, therefore, you should never pay to access federal government job offers or trust a source that claims to have access to undisclosed or hidden advertisements that are not publicly available. Like data entry job scams, reimbursement processor scams include simple job offers to fill out online forms. If you're applying for remote jobs where you won't be visiting employers face to face, don't provide direct deposit information until you've signed a job offer.
According to the FBI, fraudsters take advantage of people who apply for jobs by creating false job offers to obtain personal information. With the rise of online job boards, remote jobs, and professional networking sites like LinkedIn, it's becoming easier to do all your job search online. When presented with a job opportunity, the best defense against job scams is to do your research before responding with your resume or providing any personal information. Read the self-defense smell test on job scams for an exhaustive process that verifies that a job opportunity is real.
Research the employer online before applying for a job to ensure that the company and the job are legitimate. The best strategy is to keep your guard up at all times, whether it's seeing a job offer on a job board, reading an email message, or consulting a post on social media. If you're currently employed, your smartest strategy is to conduct a stealth job search so you don't lose the job you have. Joyce has been observing the world of online job searching and teaching job search skills online since 1995.
If you've found a website that seems legitimate but doesn't really seem as legitimate as other job boards or recruiter websites, it's probably fake. In the United States, these undisclosed jobs are supposedly for the United States Federal Government or the United States Post Office and, in exchange for a fee, these people will give you access to those jobs. According to the FTC, one of the main signs of an online job scam is being asked to pay to start the job. .