The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) hears from
consumers who have faced job scams. These scams are a perennial problem
made even more harmful in the wake of graduation season and the
unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The most common job scams
tend to focus on a few specific types of jobs: data entry, stuffing
envelopes, rebate or forms processing, wire transfers or money movement,
shipping management, craft assembly and pyramid sales schemes. What are job
scams and how can you, and your recent graduate, spot them? Here’s a guide
on common variants of job scams.
Job Postings or Job Placement Services
To trick people looking for honest work, criminals post positions where
real employers and job placement firms do. These include online job boards,
Craigslist, social media and other platforms. Platforms do not vet the job
posts placed through them. So do not assume that all positions advertised
on a platform are legitimate. Job postings may also come in the form of
unsolicited emails or may mention “undisclosed government jobs.” Not all
online job postings are a scam. But unless you can speak to and see the
person at the job site, you can never truly be sure you are
interacting with a real job lead. Note, all federal positions are announced
to the public.
Many headhunters, or job placement services, are legitimate. But others lie
about their clients and about what they can do for you, promote outdated or
fake job openings or charge upfront fees. Before you enlist with a job
placement service, check with the companies listed as clients, get details
of the contract in writing and make sure it is a job placement
service and not a job counseling service. Finally, check online
for complaints or reviews about the company.
Online Resume Platforms
Many in the job market will post their resumes on job search platforms
inviting prospective employers to reach out and contact them. This is a
tried and true method promoted by colleges and employment coaches and can
be quite successful. These platforms can also be fertile hunting grounds
for criminals. Before responding to an interview offer, do your research.
An OCP Scambuster reported an interview offer from
hr.sariharvey@unitedhealthgroupinc.net. In doing her research, she noted
that the HR Director of United Health Group was in fact a Sara
Harvey. However, the website for this company was unitedhealthgroup.com and unitedhealthgroupinc.net was a non-existent website. Those
small details and variations were crucial in spotting a scam.
Work-From-Home Scams
During the era of social distancing, working from home is the only option
for a large portion of the population. Common work-from-home scams involve
envelope stuffing, starting new internet businesses, medical billing,
mystery shopping or multi-level marketing. These opportunities require
upfront payment of “investment” or fees for materials, may be from
companies with itinerant addresses like P.O. Boxes or other mail-drop
services and offer a large amount of money in a short time frame.
Script of the Scam
Pay to Play
: Job scams make upbeat promises about your chances of employment and most
will ask you to pay towards some aspect of the new job. OCP received a tip
from a graduate who had his resume pulled from a job search platform. The
name given by the person contacting him matched the publicly available name
of a national company’s Human Resources director. The interview was
conducted remotely – without video – on Google Hangout, with the job offer
immediately given. In order to complete this work-from-home data entry job,
this new employer required him to purchase software for his new job. Using
the typical check scam, the “employer”
sent him a check to deposit with a request that he immediately deposit
and purchase the software
so that he could begin work. This required him to use a good check to buy
something before the bad check bounced. These check scams rely on the up to two weeks it takes for a check to truly clear (rather than have
the funds made available by your bank). Other employers may require payment
as an application fee or other processing fee. But the promise of a job
isn’t the same thing as a job. If you have to pay for the promise or
provide any account information, it’s likely a scam.
Beware of Identity Theft
: Another major ploy of a job scam is to steal your personal identifying
information. For your paycheck, you would expect to provide your name,
address, date of birth and social security number. Employers commonly
request bank account information for direct deposit. But if you have never
met the employer in the employer’s place of business, you cannot be sure
that you are not communicating with an identity thief. It is not unheard of
for scammers to set up in-person interviews in public locations to lend
themselves credibility simply to get your sensitive information.
Warning Signs
Before applying to an online job posting, or accepting an interview offer,
research the company.
- Is the name of the company the same or simply similar to an
existing company? - Does the email address exactly match the company’s website or is it
sent from a commercial account? - Did the ad have a vague or ambiguous job description, provide
limited or no information about the company, only mention money and
ask that you contact the prospective employer for more information?
Legitimate job positions will spell out some details about the
hiring company, the job, benefits, etc. - Was the interview audio only or will you be able to meet in-person,
or see your interview panel via video? Did you mainly conduct
communications through instant messaging services? - Did the job offer seem too quick with a requirement that you make a
decision immediately? - Was the money offered too much for the work required?
- Did the ad say no experience or expertise was required?
Do’s and Don’ts While Job Hunting
DO
- Research to make sure the position advertised exists. Jobs posted
through online platforms will usually also be posted on the
company’s career page. - Research the company and the interviewer(s) and make sure all the
details match. Searching the name plus “scam” or “rip-off” will
give you some information on the company if it’s not legitimate. - Research the job placement service and its user reviews.
- Be skeptical: if it’s too good to be true, it could be a scam.
- Do get a contract or other written details of pay and benefits.
- Ask questions. It not only shows you are a savvy employee; it also
will help you discover a scam.
DON’Ts
- Give out personal information like your social security or bank
account number over email or phone. - Take checks or money orders as a form of pre-payment for goods or
services. Fake checks are common and the bank where you cash it
will hold you accountable. - Cash a check that comes with “extra” money and do not buy gift
cards and send bar codes at an employer’s request. Scammers send
checks that require you to deposit at your bank, withdraw the
“extra” money as cash and then deposit that cash elsewhere. - Wire funds via Western Union, MoneyGram or other cash app. Money
mule schemes are commonly disguised as job scams. - Agree to a background check or credit check unless you have met the
employer in person or via video-interview and can otherwise
validate legitimacy. - Apply for a job that is emailed to you out of the blue.
For more information about this or other consumer issues, contact the
Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection at
Consumer@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov or visit montgomerycountymd.gov/OCP.
