GREENSBORO, N.C. — The great resignation, where folks are leaving their everyday jobs for work that has better pay, more flexibility for life and family, work from home options, has turned into a great job scam.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), phony job postings that look real are everywhere.
You can find these phony postings on legitimate sites like Indeed and LinkedIn. Phony postings also come through on social media, email, and text.
Here are a few red flags:
If it seems like the interview process is moving rather fast and no specific skills are required but the hourly rate is high.
If they ask for payment upfront for supplies or uniforms, maybe they call it “a starter kit”. Legit employers will not ask you to cover these costs
The scammers make it seem legit and realistic. On the FTC Consumer Advice page, they run through the scam for you.
First, they get your information and send you a check for let's say--$4,000. Once the check "clears" your bank, the “employer” tells you to keep $1,000 for your salary and send the $3,000 back either to them or a third party to buy your computer equipment. But the equipment never appears and then the bank realizes the check is fake, and you're on the hook for that $3,000, not the bank.
Spotting a job scam is one thing. Making sure the job posting you're going for is real is another, here's how to do it.
“Any job you’re interested in, even though may find the job on a major job site, you need to go to the company's main job site and see if it's listed there. If you're really interested in the job and it's not listed there, then call their HR Department to make sure it is real because you can lose a lot of money in one of these employment scams,” said Lechelle Yates of the Better Business Bureau.
One last thing, Zoom interviews are standard now. If the "employer" says they can't do a face-to-face interview with some sort of technology and your job communication has only been by phone call, text, or email, there's a problem