Job Offer Scams - Yes, They're Real.

I first ran into the job offer scams when I was looking to move from the company I was currently working for.  About 10 years ago I had uploaded my resume into a few job search sites, like Career Builder and Monster.  Don't judge me.  That's how it was done at the time. So, during my new job search in addition to hitting up my network, I updated those online resumes.  That's when I started to get offers of employment for jobs having absolutely nothing to do with my skill set.  I'm a chemist, and none of these "offers" had anything to do with anything scientific.  I decided to figure out who these people were and why they'd be contacting me.  It turns out, they were either get-rich-quick scams or a ploy to get my bank account numbers.  

Related: Keep Your Identity Safe Online

But how do you know for sure?  When you're unemployed and looking for a job you're under a lot of pressure.  Which, really is just a nice way of saying that you're panicking.  And when you're panicking, you may have blinders on when comes to something being too good to be true.  And that's what these scammers count on. They will absolutely take advantage of someone already in a desperate situation.  I probably shouldn't have been, but I was very surprised that anyone could be low enough to do that.  But they will.  And they do.  The trick is to keep them from doing it to you. 

He's probably a Nigerian prince, too.

Here's the first hint, if someone is asking you for money they are not offering you a job. It may not come as a shock (or maybe it will, I really don't know how easily shocked you are) that most "Work from Home" offers are a scam.  This is the most common one you'll run across while you're out there looking for a job.  If you click on their link you'll most likely end up watching their video telling you wild stories about how immediately successful everyone who has ever tried their method has become.  And if you want to learn more, you only have to pay them for your start up kit. This goes for any email you receive that sounds like a job offer.  No one who wants to hire you will ask you for money.

Related:  Real Job Listings With Less Competition

Another rule along the same lines is that no one is going to give you money for nothing.  Ever.  Except maybe your parents. And that's only if they really like you. A very common scam is the company that emails you offering a job that you can start right away.  They only want you to process payment checks from their customers through your bank account.  All you have to do is deposit the checks they send you into your personal bank account.  And then you just send them a portion back, keeping a predetermined percentage for yourself.  Super easy and minimal work for you.  And if this is something you're interested in, please call me. I have several very profitable bridges I happen to have for sale.  This is just a scam to get your bank account number which they will then very quickly clean right out for you.

There are ways to determine if an email you get regarding a job is on the up and up. 

- Check the sender's email address.  Sometimes it'll include Career Builder or Monster but you can tell that it's not from the job board service.  The email address won't be in the format someone@careerbuilder.com but rather, someone@careerbuilder.somethingweird.com. 

- You can also tell by looking at the URL of the link they send you. If it doesn't include their company name and starts with "bit.ly" it may not be safe to click on. If it's not safe to click on, it's not a real job lead.  Quick note - not all "bit.ly" links are unsafe. It's a commonly used URL shortener, like when tweeting a long address.  But it can also be used to disguise a URL, so just be careful.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who will take advantage of you if you let them.   Just remember, there are no actual "get rich quick" plans.  If there were, we'd all be swimming in money and not need to find a job.  But if you use a little common sense - if it's too good to be true, it probably is - and never give out account info or money, you'll be ok.