Posted on Craigslist, the job posting read: “We currently have a part-time Administrative Assistant position in Boise. This assistant will provide extensive administrative support on many different tasks and duties. Must have proficient computer skills and be able to run errands to get around You must also be able to pass a background check and a drug test.”
Shelly M., a single mother seeking employment from Oregon, applied for the job. The alleged employer’s response stated that she wanted an employee who could handle her personal and business errands on the employee’s time off and, if possible, perform data entry and receptionist duties. Other required tasks included shopping for clothing and electronic gifts, paying bills, and providing mail services. Mail services included receiving forwarded mail and packages, picking up packages at the post office, and forwarding all packages, mail, and purchased goods to designated locations.
The employer would give Shelly an advance check and her personal UPS account number to pay for purchases and shipping. She would work 15-20 hours per month and the pay would be $320 per week. He said that he was working in Egypt and could not do an in-person interview with her, and requested all of her personal information.
He hired her via email and made no mention of background check, drug test, administrative duties or data entry. Her first assignment would be emailed to him the following Monday, and he was asked to check her email three times a day. If Ella Shelly hadn’t gotten suspicious and continued this work from home, she would have been guilty of committing various crimes.
At first glance, this job posting might seem legitimate; however, the job is actually a job “forwarding” scam in which the perpetrator hires a “mule” to buy goods with money obtained by cashing a fake check, and receive and forward merchandise purchased with card numbers stolen credit obtained through phishing scams, Trojan horse attacks, and database hacks. The UPS account used for shipping is also stolen.
If the involuntary achievement is paid at all, it’s with a fake check that exceeds the amount of your salary, requiring you to transfer the excess to the scammer still posing as an employer. The victim can be arrested for receiving and shipping stolen merchandise, using a stolen UPS account, and negotiating a fake check.
The perpetrator goes unpunished for the crimes because by using false names, corresponding to another country and using associates to help him carry out his job scams, he is hidden under many layers that allow him to remain anonymous and free to scam other job applicants let them answer to his fake job ad. He also has victims’ personal information that he uses to open credit card accounts and perform other fraudulent acts.
For millions of unemployed people, technology simplifies the job search process by allowing companies to post job ads and applications online. These same resources also allow scammers to post fake job opportunities with the intent to separate job applicants from their money and identities, and trick them into doing their dirty work. Trust People who fall for employment scams often end up paying thousands of dollars to banks for forged checks, and some end up in prison for committing crimes, albeit unintentionally.
Fake job offers can be difficult to distinguish from a legitimate job opportunity; however, if the job seeker knows what to look for, the chances of being scammed are much lower. There are many variations of employment scams, and legitimate companies that post job openings online sometimes require an up-front fee and personal information. The onus is on the job applicant to determine if the job offer is genuine.
What things should a job seeker look for to avoid getting caught up in a job scam?
Wages
Does the job pay an amount that sounds too good to be true? Shelly’s promised $320 per week doesn’t make sense to work just 20 hours per month. The breakdown of that number comes out to $16,640 per year, $1,386 per month, and $69.30 per hour, which sounds too good to be true for an administrative assistant position.
advance fee
Does the employer require any fees upfront through an electronic transfer service? The money transferred cannot be traced or recovered, and any job advertisement or offer that requires money to be transferred anywhere is definitely false.
Grammatical errors
Does the posting or job description contain many grammatical errors and misspellings, contain words in capital letters that shouldn’t be capitalized, or are missing words that cause sentences to break? For some employers, English is a second language, so even legitimate job postings can have grammatical errors; however, many grammatical errors in job postings or emails usually indicate a scam.
contact information
Does the employer use an email address from a free provider such as gmail.com, hotmail.com, or yahoo.com? Legitimate businesses don’t usually use free email addresses; they use an email address that matches the company name and website.
Scammers always provide false contact information. Avoid businesses that only have a PO Box and no physical address. Job scammers who provide a physical address often provide the address of a mailbox located at a business that provides mailbox services. What location does the employer give for the company? While legitimate companies in foreign countries post jobs, scammers post fake jobs from everywhere. An email trace revealed that the scammer in Shelly’s employment scam was writing from a computer in Nigeria.
Scammers use prepaid cell phones and prepaid calling cards that cannot be traced, so the location of a phone number is not the actual physical location of the scammer. For example, the Telephone Portability Act allows a person to live in one state but maintain a telephone number from another state. Scammers located abroad often have US phone numbers.
Other signs that the job offer might be a job scam:
- It is urgent that the job seeker apply for the job or accept the job offered immediately.
- The employer declares that he is on a business trip or attending an emergency in another country, so a face-to-face interview is not possible.
- The job or contact person sounds strange and the details cannot be verified.
Job scams rely on the desperation, vulnerability, and naivety of job applicants. If a job seeker knows what to look for in online job postings and how to avoid fake ones, he won’t be the next victim of the job scammer. Google names, addresses, email addresses, and any other information provided in the job posting and in follow-up correspondence. If something doesn’t look or sound right, it’s most likely a job scam.
Copyright 2011 Patti McMann. All rights reserved.