Identify Fraudulent Jobs Opportunities

Scammers often use job opportunities to collect personal information, so it’s important to learn how to differentiate legitimate job listings from fraudulent ones. Here are some tips and warning signs to be aware of.

  • If a job seems too perfect to be true, it likely is.
  • Legitimate employers will never ask for financial information or your SSN!
  • Legitimate employers will never ask you to send money or pay for services.
  • If you’re unsure, check the job posting directly on the employer’s official website. Scam job listings often use familiar names and images. Avoid clicking links in suspicious posts as they may lead to fake pages that can look similar to the real site. Instead, visit the employer’s official employment page to verify the listing. Another helpful approach is to contact the company directly using publicly available contact information.
  • If you experience anything unusual about a job posting in Handshake, please contact the Center for Career & Professional Development as soon as possible and flag the posting in Handshake.

  • Warning signs that signal fraudulent emails and websites: bad grammar and spelling, requests for personal information, and difficulty contacting or identifying the poster.
  • Request for an initial investment.
  • Request for bank account access.
  • Requests for payment or transferring money.
  • Offers to pay a large amount of money for little work.
  • Offers you a job without interviewing/interacting with you.
  • You are contacted by phone, and the number is not available.
  • Vague descriptions that focus on money rather than the job.
  • Email domain that doesn’t match the employer’s official domain.
  • Email domain of a free provider is used, such as live.com, yahoo.com, gmail.com, hotmail.com, etc. Legitimate organizations almost always have their own email systems.
  • Website that has information only on the job you’re applying for, rather than about the company in general.

I’ve been scammed, what do I do?

  • End all communication and immediately contact the local police and Public Safety.
  • Get in touch with your bank or credit card company and dispute any fraudulent activity immediately.
  • If the scam happened online, file a report with the FTC’s cybercrime division.