Avoiding Scams - Better Business Bureau
With millions unemployed in the United States and Canada, job scammers have a ready market of those looking for work. Not surprisingly, complaints and reported losses increased during the pandemic, and with more people currently wanting to work from home, the door is open to even more job scams. BBB reports that an estimated 14 million people are exposed to employment scams every year, with $2 billion in direct losses annually.
Job scams have long been a staple of scam operations. Once commonly found in the province of classified ads claiming people could work at home stuffing envelopes, assembling goods, or promises to provide jobs working for the Postal Service those scams are now far less common. A new generation of scammers advertise jobs on the web and social media, or reach out to those who have posted resumes on job boards. These changes increase the risks of identity theft. They also have resulted in a big increase in scams that involve reshipping goods purchased with stolen credit cards. Other common scams promise jobs but provide victims with counterfeit checks, asking them to send money to a supposed third party for equipment to perform the job.
This study examines how common these frauds are, who they are most likely to affect, how they operate and how to avoid them. Of particular concern is the risk of identity theft, jobs that require reshipping goods purchased with stolen credit cards or helping scammers in other ways, and scams that involve fake checks.
