HARRISBURG – Attorney General Dave Sunday is encouraging Pennsylvanians — including students and soon-to-be graduates — to be vigilant when reviewing job opportunities posted online, and be watchful for potential scams.
Employment scams – particularly, phony work-from-home options – continue to target job seekers with promises of high pay, flexible schedules or easy income. In many cases, scammers use fake job applications to obtain personal or financial information.
“Scammers are constantly adapting their tactics to steal personal information and money from unsuspecting consumers,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Now is the time of year for students, graduates, and other Pennsylvanians to line up summer jobs, and I encourage job seekers to do their research. If a job posting seems too good to be true, it probably is. Remember, a legitimate employer will never ask for payment upfront as part of the hiring process.”
In some scams, job postings may ask that you receive packages at your home to repackage and reship to another address. The products in this scam are often high-priced goods, like name-brand electronics, bought using stolen credit cards. When you try to contact your “employer” with any questions or to obtain your paycheck, you’ll often find that the phone number has been disconnected and the website no longer exists.
Another version of this scam has scammers contacting people, potentially out of the blue or through advertisements, offering you a job buying brand-name luxury products for less than retail prices and reselling those items for a profit. But oftentimes after you pay for the products, the package never arrives or, if it does, it’s usually junk.
The Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection is offering the following tips to job-seekers to stay vigilant to potential scams:
- Search online. Look up the name of the company or the person who’s hiring you, plus the words “scam,” “review,” or “complaint.” See if others say they’ve been scammed by that company or person. No complaints? It doesn’t guarantee that a company is honest, but complaints can tip you off to possible problems.
- Talk to someone you trust. Discussing the offer with a friend or family member can help identify red flags before taking action.
- Don’t pay for the promise of a job. Honest employers, including the government, will never ask for you to pay to get a job. Anyone who does is a scammer.
- One Pennsylvanian was offered a part-time work-from-home job. She was told she would get an Apple laptop to begin her work but that she needed to buy and send her employer two $200 prepaid gift cards for the company to load the software onto the computer. When she began setting up her direct deposit for her new role, the “employer” told her she would be paid in cryptocurrency. This raised red flags for her and she did not move forward with the “job.”
- Never bank on a “cleared” check. No honest potential employer will ever send you a check to deposit and then tell you to send on part of the money, or buy gift cards with it. That’s a fake check scam. The check will bounce, and the bank will want you to repay the amount of the fake check.
- One Pennsylvanian accepted what appeared to be a legitimate remote position with a medical technology company. The company mailed this person a check to pay for their supplies to start their new work-from-home job. When they cashed the check, the bank called the next day to tell them the check was fictitious and they owed the bank the full amount back.
- Call the company to verify the offer. Be sure to obtain the phone number off the company’s website – not the phone number included in any potential job offers.
- Another Pennsylvanian applied for a job on Indeed for a virtual personal assistant role with the Ocean Club of Florida. The “employer” did the interview over email and text because the “employer” was allegedly hard of hearing. This Pennsylvanian got the job and the “employer” sent her a check that she was supposed to send partial funds back to her “employer”. She discussed it with her friend and realized something was off. Upon researching the company, she found the company is real. The person she was supposed to be in contact with was real, but she was speaking with a scammer who had used this company and its employees in their scam.
- Check the sender’s email address carefully. Legitimate businesses typically use official company domains rather than personal email accounts such as Gmail or AOL. Government email addresses will always end in “.gov.”
There are many websites that post jobs – start with safe and reliable sources:
- The Office of Attorney General posts job listings here.
- Careers with the Commonwealth of PA are here.
- Check if there is an in-person recruitment event near you.
- CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and lists hundreds of thousands of jobs along with employment and training programs in each state.
If you paid a scammer – immediately contact the company you used to send the money to report the fraud, and ask to have the transaction reversed, if possible.
If you have fallen victim to an employment scam, you are highly encouraged to file a complaint with the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Pennsylvanians can file complaints online, by emailing co*******@*************al.gov, or by calling 1-800-441-2555.
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