Fraud Tip of the Day - October 7
Phony job offer email scams
Many people have reported that job offers orginating from some of the major employment sites via email are not what they appear to be. These emails have subject lines that sound exciting. They claim that you are a candidate for a good job and that you should apply right away. When you click the link in the email you sometimes end up on a page with a form where you are instructed to enter your vital stats (name, address, phone number etc.) to begin the employment process.
I hate to break it to you, but a lot of these emails are nothing more than scams designed to trick you into divulging your personal information. Once you've filled out the form and submitted it the information doesn't end up where you'd expect, such as a recruiters inbox. Instead, your personal information ends up in a database and is sold to marketing companies or other interested parties. And that's the best thing that can happen if your job offer turns out to be a scam.
Some job offers are actually identity theft schemes
Some of these bogus offers are identity theft schemes in which you are tricked into handing criminals the keys to your financial acounts. Since when did employers need your PIN number? I suppose HR might need your Social Security number eventually, but I'd never give that out over the phone to someone I'd never met face-to-face.
Training programs designed to look like employment opportunities
These phony job postings aren't necessarily dangerous...unless you fall for it! Just ask yourself what kind of job requires you to pony up a lot of money for training that could, I repeat, could lead to a job.
For example, I once saw a job posting on Jobster that turned out to be nothing more than a pitch for SAP training disguised as a job offer. Buried in the details was some nonsense about how you might receive a job offer once the training was completed. Expensive training I might add. There was no promise of a job. The best they could do was mention that you might be elligible for contract work.
These training programs masquerading as job offers are quite common. If you haven't seen one yet, it's only a matter of time until you do.
Today's tip is to look these job offers you receive via email over carefully before you respond to them. We suggest you research potential employers before contacting them. You might be surprised what you find out.
Avoid internet scams and protect yourself and your family by learning the tricks scammers use on the 'net.
