Job offer scams are everywhere. Just because you find the job listing on a popular career site doesn’t mean it isn’t a scam. Always research companies before offering your personal details to avoid putting your safety at risk. For more information and tips, visit our blog for updates. All that glitters isn’t gold. Lawn signs by the highway, sketchy classified ads, and unsolicited emails promising you riches untold for only a few hours a week usually aren’t legit offers. But it’s hard to wade through the noise of poorly written job postings vs actual job offer scams.
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10 ways to spot a fake Job Offer Scams
1. Fake Job Offer Scams Requires Payment
Now, this should be the red flag of all red flags. No job will require you to pay them for an interview. There are legit hourly jobs that ask you to cover the cost of training, but none will charge you a fee to get in the door. If you’re being asked to cover the cost of a job interview, know that the job itself is nothing short of a scam.
2. Bank Account
Another surefire way to spot a fake job offer is if you’re being asked to input bank account information on a job application. Why would a job need to know personal financial details?
It is common for an employer to run credit checks, but they’ll only need your social security information to do this. Bank account details are a sign that you’ll soon see money coming out of your account not going in. Protect your account by canceling any application process that requests your bank account information or credit card information.
3. Employer is Invisible
There are many job postings where the employer remains confidential. Typically, these are jobs posted by recruiters who don’t want you to cut them out as the middle man. They mask the employer’s name in an effort to get you to contact them to learn more about the position. Once they determine you’re qualified for the job, you’ll learn more about the opportunity including the name of the employer.
But not job offer scams. You’ll talk to someone but never hear more about who you’re actually going to be working for. If you ask, but never get an answer about the actual job, there’s a good chance the company isn’t real.
4. Multiple Business Names
Job offer scams often come from companies that are untraceable. You might not see any warning signs at first glance, but after visiting the website and completing an application, you notice there are several different company names in play.
Yes, there are parent companies with subsidiaries. But not three or four names on different applications. At some point, it should be clear which company you’re applying to. If you feel stuck in the matrix or unable to name the company, you know you’re being scammed.
5. Poor Reviews
Reviews are the holy grail of modern job searches. Services like Glassdoor allow you to check up on the actual experience of working for a particular business. This is helpful in finding out whether the job you’re applying to is a scam. Search for reviews from employees to learn more information.
A quick search can reveal other people who tried the company but wasn’t successful. There’s always someone else willing to take the plunge on a get-rich-quick-scheme. Let them share their wisdom with you so you don’t have to lose out yourself.
6. Voice Recording
When you call the number on a lawn sign for a job and only get a voice recording, know that this job probably isn’t a very good idea. Yes, some job offers get lots of callers. The voice recording is an easy way to receive a large amount of calls without wasting company time. But at some point you should be able to reach a real person within the company. Jobs with no phone number or live person to connect with are typically a scam.
6. No Website means Fake Job Offer Scams
Most modern companies have a website. You can rest assured that any company without a physical location or website is probably not worth your time. One exception is startup businesses, but the owner should reveal this in the job posting. You can give a little grace to a new business owner still working to get up and running.
But jobs boasting an opportunity to make thousands of dollars per week isn’t a startup. This business would need to have a long track record in order to promise these kinds of returns.
7. The Offer is Unrealistic
There’s a major divide in the modern world between the haves and the have nots. This divide means some people make unrealistic amounts of money in a short period of time and others make pennies. The people at the top of the earning pyramid never ever earn their salaries from careers found on Craigslist. If you’re getting offers to make top salaries from a source that doesn’t seem credible, it probably isn’t.
You won’t make six figures working only 20 hours per week from home doing anything legitimate.
8. The Interviewer Is Personal
Have you ever met someone in a professional setting that became too casual too fast? This is a sign the job itself isn’t a professional gig. You never know what kind of seedy operation you’re walking into so it’s best to opt for payday loans for unemployed on benefits instead of potentially putting yourself in harm’s way.
9. Residential Office Location
Job offer scams can include a wide range of weird traits. One that’s unsafe and might warrant calling the police is meeting in someone’s home. If you put the address to your job interview in your GPS and it takes you to a private residence, run away.
10. Unclear Job Description
Sometimes you can tell you’re walking into a scam the minute you read the job description. Because there’s no actual job to be had, job offer scams often have unclear language about what you’ll be doing once you get hired.
