Common Frauds:
HELP FOR A FEE Watch out for fake recruiters and charlatans who promise to train you for a lucrative new career.
FISHING FOR IDENTITY DATA Ads for attractive white-collar jobs can be, in fact, sophisticated fraud schemes.
WORK FROM HOME Proliferating recently are fake “Mystery Shopper” positions evaluating the services of companies, especially money-wiring services.
MONEY-MULE AND RESHIPPER These are some of the most dangerous schemes, since they can turn people, often unwittingly, into accomplices of international crime rings.
How to Protect Yourself:
BE SKEPTICAL. Red flags include offers using poor grammar and spelling and that come from e-mail addresses that don’t match the name of the company. Real companies use polished language, emphasize a job’s duties and use corporate e-mail addresses, not Yahoo or Gmail accounts.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Research the company. Do they have a professional Web site with lots of content, a list of executives’ names and a phone number where you can reach a human being?
Often a simple Google search will be enough to spot trouble; there are scads of warnings from people who believe they were cheated by Google Treasure Chest, for instance. You can also check companies’ reputations with the Better Business Bureau and look for complaints on Web sites like Complaintsboard.com and PhishBucket.org.
KEEP IT PRIVATE. Limit the personal information you give online. This starts with your résumé: Don’t include any information you wouldn’t want broadcast to the world, which is exactly what you’re doing. Avoid providing your home address, a key bit of information for perpetrators of identity fraud; most real employers are happy with a general geographic location, like Greater New York City region. Unless you’re signing an employment agreement, keep your Social Security number to yourself.
SPECIALIZE YOUR SEARCH. “If you are in a particular sector or profession, go to the niche site first,” Ms. Dixon says. Scammers want the volume provided by big sites. Moreover, niche sites often filter job posts by hand and tend to be intimately familiar with the companies posting them, making it easier for them to spot fakes. Look for industry-specific job boards or professional groups with online listings.
GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY. During the hiring process, both parties should be looking for a good fit. Craigslist’s chief executive, Jim Buckmaster, says job seekers on his site should, as general rule, “deal with only local businesses you can meet face to face.” Mr. Buckmaster says Craigslist’s system captures the large majority of scams before they reach the site, but “it’s virtually impossible to keep every scam from traversing an Internet site that 50 million people are using each month.”
GO LOW TECH. Most people get jobs through local want ads, professional associations, job-search agencies, temp agencies and their personal networks of colleagues, friends and family. “The old-fashioned way is still sometimes the best way,” says Linda Foley, a founder of the consumer advocacy Identity Theft Resource Center.
