Job-Hunting Scams Target Millennials

Job hunting is now a digital process, and like anything digital, it’s become a target for hackers and scammers. Because the millennial generation is now the largest part of the workforce, they have become the prime targets of these criminals, so here’s what millennials (and any other job seekers) need to know to stay protected.

The job market today is online. Companies and job-seekers connect through job sites or through social media. Many organizations require people to submit resumes through web-based applications. Telecommuters work for people they may never have met. All this remote interaction makes it easy for scammers to impersonate legitimate businesses. Scams may include directing people to fake websites to gather their personal information, asking them to download an app that contains malware, or more sophisticated schemes such as overpayment fraud (sending supposed new hires a fake check and then having them return money out of their own funds before the check bounces).

Millennials can be prime targets for job scams because they are most active on, and therefore targetable through, social media. They tend to have a positive outlook, are more likely to look for flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting or crowd-sourcing projects, and they are comfortable getting to know other people online rather than in person. In job-hunting, millennials, in particular, need to adopt some unaccustomed wariness.

Here are seven ways to spot an employment scam:

• If the job posting is sketchy about details and requirements, avoid it.
• If the job posting seems too good to be true (e.g., high pay for low effort or “no qualifications necessary”), it’s not true. For example, the government is warning about a scam offering FEMA jobs after Hurricane Harvey for $2,000/week, no experience needed.
• If the job pays you upfront for equipment
• If the job asks you to pay upfront for your equipment or background check
• If the “human resources manager” you’re corresponding with has an email that doesn’t match the company they’re supposedly working for, if their writing is full of mistakes, or if they ask for personal information upfront.
• If you’re offered the job too quickly.
• If the interview is done via instant messaging.

Here are some other ways to protect yourself, in addition to becoming a good scam-spotter:

• Don’t answer unsolicited emails for work-at-home employment. (This advice comes from the FBI.)
• Only respond to postings from legitimate job sites such as Glassdoor or Indeed. But be careful: FlexJobs is also warning about a scam using its name.
• Before accepting a LinkedIn request, look at the requestor’s profile and make sure they’re legit. If not, report them to LinkedIn.
• Make it a habit to look for possible scams. When you get news of a job posting, just type the name of the company and “scams” into a search engine and see if anything comes up.

Job hunting is tough enough without having to be on the defensive, but CBS News recently reported that for every legitimate job posting there are at least 60 scams. Optimism and enthusiasm are wonderful traits in any job-seeker, but cautious optimism will lead to a happier, safer job hunt.