BBB warns of remote work jobs that are scams

Remote jobs, or at least work with remote options, have become commonplace as public meetings have been intermittently outlawed by governing bodies.

Many have enjoyed, and benefitted from, the added flexibility offered by working from home.

Nonetheless, there are dangers and scams for job seekers to watch out for. At least, that’s what the non-profit organization Better Business Bureau (BBB) has found.

The BBB found that job-listing scams saw a sharp increase (27%) compared to before the pandemic; this had an estimated impact on 14 million victims that led to $2 billion of losses.

Those impacted by these scams were predominantly aged between 25 and 34, with 67% of complaints about this kind of fraud being filed by women.

How do job scams work?

The scams do not intend to find out who is skilled at working in a fast-paced environment and managing tight deadlines, although this may be part of the process. Instead, identity theft is the common goal of these schemes.

Through the promise of a job, scammers often steal job seekers’ personal information and open bank accounts in their name to further their fraud.

BBB has found that 34% of the victims of this crime provided their driver’s license details and 25% provided their Social Security or Social Insurance number.

The median loss for these victims is $1,000 and of course, there is also the added loss of wasting time applying for a fake job.

These scams can also turn candidates into unwitting accomplices in other fraud, as their information can be used to mail fake checks or to participate in reshipping scams.

These kinds of scam jobs are posted online and can even be found on legitimate hiring platforms such as Indeed and LinkedIn.

In fact, 32% of scams are reaching people through the website Indeed, 7% through Linkedin, and 6% through Facebook.

An example of the harmful impact these scams is a woman from St. Louis who lost her job during the pandemic and was recruited through a job search platform as a remote assistant for a large company.

Her new “employer” deposited a $2,400 payment into her bank account so she could purchase Home Depot gift cards and text the employer the numbers.

The women in question never heard from the so-called employer again, but her bank informed her that the money she had received was fraudulent. As a result, she lost the money spent on the gift card and had a further $2,400 stolen.

Given the financial risk to individuals incurred from falling prey to these scams, hiring platforms will want to ensure they clamp down to avoid any costs to their reputation.

For those looking for work, it is advised that they thoroughly research the company they are applying for, do not consider re-shipping packages as work, be wary of receiving and forwarding money, and be cautious about sharing personal information.

On top of that, candidates can check the validity of businesses on BBB.org, and the reputation of a company can be seen through the likes of Glassdoor.