GREENSBORO, N.C. — We used to apply for jobs with pen and paper and in person, but most job listings are now online. You don't meet someone face-to-face until there's an interview, which is why scammers can get away with so much.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were over 10,000 cases of "Business and Job Opportunity" scams last year alone. Employment scams have more than doubled over the past four years, and in the last year, Americans lost almost $500 million to these scams.
How do you spot an employment scam? There are three main red flags:
Poor spelling or grammar mistakes
A hurried process
A request for financial information
"They will ask you for your financial information and any personal information like your social security number. A company will never do that," said Catherine Fisher, a Career Expert from LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has features on its site to help protect job seekers, from an identity verification system to warning messages if someone has requested your personal information. And if they are asking to take the conversation off the platform, that is another red flag.
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