With the country鈥檚 sizzling hot jobs market, many people are finding and securing choice employment positions. But some are seeing an uptick in job scams, according to a recent survey by a .
Nearly one-third of the people surveyed told that they were tricked into filling out fake job applications or doing phony interviews online within the last two years.
鈥淯nfortunately, a job scam can look absolutely credible,鈥� said Daniel Farber Huang, a subject expert at PasswordManager.com. 鈥淏eing able to put out a job posting is free or has very little upfront cost.鈥�
Scammers hope to access valuable personal information or to get victims to pay for phony expenses. They use sneaky methods to lure unsuspecting job seekers, Huang said.
鈥淭hey might say, ‘We鈥檙e going to run a credit check on you and it鈥檚 going to cost $75 to do so and you鈥檙e going to have to pay that,’鈥� Huang said. 鈥淥r they might say, 鈥楥ongratulations! You鈥檝e made it to our next round; we鈥檙e going to need more information. What鈥檚 your date of birth? What鈥檚 your Social Security number?鈥�
The survey also found:
- 38% of people reported encountering scam job postings online
- 15% had personal information stolen
- 9% had money stolen by scammers
There’s a clear way to avoid the scams, Huang said.
鈥淭rust but verify,鈥� he said. 鈥淧ick up the phone and call the company and get confirmation that it is a legitimate posting. Don鈥檛 just click links that will lead you somewhere.鈥�
