Consumer advocates say job hunters need to protect themselves from scammers.
Melanie Mcgovern, a spokesperson with the Better Business Bureau, says they were seeing a lot of layoffs in the news, so people need to be on guard.
Job scams were already on the rise.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, reports of job scams and fake employment agencies nearly tripled between 2020 and 2024.
The BBB ranked job scams among the riskiest scams of last year with consumers more likely to lose money or experience identity theft.
The BBB has seen many red flags such as:
- Unsolicited phone calls, texts, and emails about job opportunities
- Conducting interviews via text (and refusing phone or video chat)
- Fast job offers that ask for Social Security and banking information (under the guise of setting up direct deposit)
- Work-from-home jobs that involve receiving and reshipping packages - potentially illegally obtained goods
McGovern said taking the time to research a company can help those looking for a job avoid costly mistakes.
She said that the best thing to do whenever you come across a job listing is to go to that employer’s webpage directly to verify it.
Do not click on the link provided, but do an actual search on that company.