If you’re looking for a job, you need to be aware of employment/recruitment scam texts, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says.
An example of this circulating scam is below:
Hi, I’m a recruiter at SSENSE, my name is Evelyn. Your background and resume have been recommended by multiple online recruitment agencies. Therefore, we would like to offer you a great remote online part-time job to help SSENSE merchants update data, increase visibility and bookings, and provide you with free training. Flexible part-time and full-time work, allowing you to work 60 to 90 minutes a day, 4 days a week, and earn extra income on weekends. You can work anytime and anywhere according to your schedule and earn $250 to $500 a day. The basic salary is $1,000 per 4 days of work. Paid annual leave: In addition to maternity leave, paternity leave and other statutory holidays, ordinary employees also enjoy 15-20 days of paid annual leave. The company currently has 5 vacancies, if you want to join us, please send a text message to 9492138774 for more information (Note: You must be 28 years old or older)
How to avoid job scams
- Research the person who contacted you. If you suspect the person contacting you could be a scammer, look them up. A quick online search should reveal if they work for the company they claim to represent. If you’re still not sure after doing some research, find the company’s contact information on their official website (check the URL) and reach out to them directly to ask if they are indeed hiring for the position you’re applying for.
- Do more research on the company. You may have done this before you applied for the position. Still, if you get a surprise offer to interview, it’s worth doing more research to learn more about their hiring process, home office requirements, salaries, and benefits packages. If these don’t align with your offer, you could be dealing with a scammer.
- Guard your personal and banking information. Never give sensitive information to anyone you aren’t sure you can trust. Be especially wary if someone pressures you to divulge your information saying the job offer will only last if you fill out all the forms.
- Watch out for overpayment scams. Many job scams involve sending fake checks with extra funds. Scammers ask their victims to deposit the check and send back the excess amount, hoping they’ll do so before they realize the check was fake and has bounced. Legitimate companies will only send you money after you’ve done work for them, so be wary of jobs that involve receiving and returning the money.
- Don’t get fooled by reshipping scams. If you’re on the hunt for a remote position, you may come across a job at a “shipping” or “logistics” business that asks you to receive packages, inspect them for damages, and then ship the items back out to other addresses. These jobs promise easy money but are cons and help scammers move potentially illegally obtained goods. In most cases, you won’t get paid. Learn more about reshipping scams and how to avoid them.
- Don’t fall for jobs that seem too good to be true. They probably are. If you are offered a job – without a formal interview – that has excellent pay and benefits, it’s likely a scam.
For more information about job scams, visit the BBB’s Scam Tracker.
