Better Business Bureau shares tips to avoid employment scams
As more people look for work in the wake of economic difficulties brought on by the pandemic, it's imperative to avoid falling for a problematic or too good to be true employment offer.
In 2020, Americans lost over $62 million in employment scams, based on complaints reported to the FBI.
According to the Better Business Bureau, these scams mainly targeted younger people with two-thirds of victims younger than 45. And many of them reported that they had been applying for a lot of jobs.
Most of the scammers found their targets online and frequently posed as legitimate companies and even conducted bogus interviews online, usually without revealing their faces.
During the interviews, the scammers could collect personal or financial information such as a person's bank account, claiming that it was necessary for their paycheck.
To avoid falling for these scams, the BBB offered the following tips.
Double-check the job offer and call the company or double-check the website.
Make sure their email address lines up with the actual company, versus something generic like Gmail.
Don't click on unknown links from any unknown numbers or emails.
Finally, if you have to pay a person or company in order to start working for them, the BBB said it's probably a scam.
