Avoiding Employer Scams

Never disclose your personal information like your birth date, social security number, mother's maiden name, state driver's license/ID or passport information, bank information, etc. until you have submitted an application, gone through a thorough interview process and have been offered a job. In addition, background checks are usually not conducted until a company has offered a job and is ready to hire. Avoid having your identity stolen. Such information should never be asked or required during the initial application process. Some information may not even be required at any time during the job hiring process.

Avoid companies that provide you payments in advance or who ask you to cash a check where you are told to keep a certain amount of money for yourself. This can be in the form of your salary/wages, a bonus or reward. For whatever reason, you'll be asked to wire the remaining amount of money back to the company or deposit it into other accounts. The check is fraudulent and at minimum, you will be responsible for the money you have requested to be sent to other accounts. You should always confirm with your bank whether a check is legitimate before depositing it into your account. Nobody legitimate would ask you to use your personal bank accounts to process things.

A job posting may appear to be from a familiar company, but make sure the email address belonging to the person contacting you matches the same domain as the real representatives of the company. Visit the company's website and make sure the email domains match. Mismatched information is a red flag. For example, if KPMG were hiring, the email address would be careers@kpmg.com and not career@jobskpmg.com. Unsolicited emails can also come from domains like @live.com, @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, and @hotmail.com. 

Watch out for anonymity. If you are having difficulty finding an address, organization name, your contact's information is unavailable or partially listed, can only be reached by text message or social media platforms, is rerouted to another unassociated website, or anything similar, do your research and proceed with caution. Despite a job posting appearing real, even listing some duties and responsibilities, the employer information must be clearing indicated. Company websites should list more than information about the job posting. Fraudulent websites are usually created quick and are very basic. They may appear legitimate at first glance.  

Know that scams can also be found in legitimate job publications, your email, social media platforms, etc. Make sure to do  your research and read all information clearly. Be cautious about clicking links that are unfamiliar to you.  

You should also make sure applications are being sent to the company, per what is listed on the company's career website. For example, if the company's career /job openings webpage requests all applications to be sent directly through their internal application system and your contact requests you to submit their application directly to their email, do your research to make sure you are not falling for a scam. In addition, if you find job listings on an outside or third party site, Google them and find the company's main career page. Check their website to see if the job is posted. Sometimes when a position is not posted on a company's main career page, it can be a scam.  Do your research and verify. 

Generally, resumes are reviewed at multiple levels and by different individuals. They also usually don't begin reviewing resumes until a job posting has officially closed. Employers also will never ask you to work immediately. There is usually an onboarding process you  will need to successfully complete that can take several days to weeks.  

The application and interview process allows both the employer and the job seeker the opportunity to see if things are a good fit. Avoid any postings that skip the entire job application process. Regardless if you feel you are a qualified candidate, actual and reputable employers do take considerable amount of time to research and get to know potential job seekers before offering a position.

Employers who tell you they do not have an office established in your area and need your help in setting one up, often request your banking information to start. They sometimes will tell you they are working out of the country or out of the state. Do not give them your financial information or use your personal finances for these transactions. Office setup is always paid at the expense of the company and not through a reimbursement process.

Be cautious of employers who cannot communicate accurately on their website, by e-mail, over the phone. etc. This could be an example of their professionalism. Also, job postings should focus on the responsibilities of the job and not on salary/wages.

You should never be required to give money to get a job or make an investment. Only in rare circumstances will you need to purchase your own office supplies. Legitimate recruiters are paid by employers. Paying for training materials or web-based training should also be a red flag. Training is always paid at the expense of the company and not the employee.

Most legitimate jobs in the U.S. do not ask for a photo. Only for very profession-specific jobs ask for a photo and it is rare. Review federal hiring standards.

Typically, reshipping scams are associated with work from home jobs. You'll be asked to reship or forward a package sent to you to another address, often outside of the United States. You may even be asked to pay for the shipping charges, which the company says they will reimburse you for any expenses incurred. What you don't realize is the packages you are being asked to reship include stolen credit cards or merchandise.  Not to mention, the reimbursement check being sent to you is fraudulent. As a result, you can be held liable for the stolen property and the bounced check.

New business efforts are often used by fraudulent employers.  They entice you to be a part of the development.  These may be very legit jobs, but you have to do your research very carefully.   

If the wages or salary do not match your level of experience or what is typically offered for that type of position with any other reputable companies, the salary range given is too wide, the company promises a large sum of money, or the job posting appears to be a traditional job but with further research, it is sounding more like an independent contract, walk away from applying.

Emails should always come from an official company email address that reflects the organization's domain. Email addresses from @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, @hotmail.com, etc. all suggest the employer does not have an official company website/domain and may not be legitimate.  Proceed with caution. 

There are very few jobs that allow for employers to work from home. Most require employees to report to an office. Do significant research and ask questions before applying. Examples of jobs that are connected to fraudulent postings include envelope stuffing, home-based assembling, home-based shipping or re-shipping, online surveys, check writing and processing.