BBB: Online job scams an ongoing problem

TRENTON - The Better Business Bureau (BBB) today issued a warning advising job seekers to beware of misleading online job postings and employment arrangements aimed at stealing money and identities.

Online employment scams generally target the increasing population of workers wanting to work from home, but also impact those looking for second jobs, and young people looking for part-time employment.

Complaints to the Better Business Bureau span dozens of sites, to include employment advertisements listed on well-known, legitimate job sites such as Monster, CareerBuilder and Yahoo Hot Jobs.

New fraudulent offers seem to appear as quickly as screeners for these and other online job posting services can remove them.

"Job scams prey on a victim's willingness to trust an 'employer' by offering high-paying jobs to con-workers into revealing personal information, such as Social Security or bank account numbers," said Elizabeth Merkel, president of the Better Business Bureau of New Jersey. "In most cases, instead of getting paid, the job seeker loses money and in some cases, instead of getting hired, the job seeker loses their identity."

A common denominator in all online job scams is the employer's lack of interest in meeting the employee. There is no job interview and the job applicant is not invited to the place of business.

"Essentially, the employee is hired sight unseen to do a virtual job for a nonexistent company. Trustworthy businesses want to meet prospective employees face to face, discuss their experience and qualifications, check references, and only then make a job offer," Merkel said.

A job seeker should refuse any employment opportunity that involves:

+ Using your personal bank account. Never agree to deposit checks or money orders or to have money wired into your bank account, for any reason. And don't forward money from your account to another account, even if you are promised reimbursement. The checks or money orders will be counterfeit and the wire transfers will eventually be rescinded.

+ Paying money out of your pocket. You should not have to pay a fee to learn the details of a job, secure job-placement assistance, obtain a background or identity screening or accept an employment offer.

+ Reshipping products. Stolen credit cards are typically involved. Victims spend their own money to reship products and are reimbursed with counterfeit checks or money orders.

+ Divulging private information. Legitimate businesses do not ask prospective employees to provide their birth date or Social Security number, or a copy of their driver's license or passport.

+ Crossborder action. Offers from entities located outside the United States and Canada are typically suspect. While there are BBBs across the United States and Canada to help investigate businesses in North America, it is much harder to develop information on businesses located in other countries.

Job seekers are urged to check out all prospective employers, job recruiters, placement firms and other employment opportunities with the Better Business Bureau at www.newjersey.bbb.org to find out if the business is legitimate.