Job Seekers Beware: Online employment scams risky, BBB Says

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’s destructive impact on the U.S. economy has landed millions of workers in the unemployment line. Compounding the situation, social distancing has forced work online in many industries. Better Business Bureau warns job seekers to use caution when job-hunting online, as online employment scams are rampant.

Employment scams ranked as the riskiest scam of 2019 in the annual BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report, with more than 3,200 reports to BBB Scam Tracker last year. About 65 of those reports were filed in Eastern and Southwest Missouri and Southern Illinois.

In employment scams, a consumer receives an unsolicited job offer that may promise high pay, options to work remotely, and/or flexible hours. To get the job, a candidate must complete forms that require personal and/or sensitive information and may be required to “purchase equipment” with part of the proceeds of what turns out to be a fake check. These open the candidate up to identity theft and financial harm.

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