(JOBsNews DETROIT) – Scammers don’t care who you are, what you look like or how old you are. They prey on vulnerability, desperation and stealing money from anyone they can.
The latest scam involved recent college graduates entering the job market for the first time.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a new warning Urging students to be wary of this scam.
“Unfortunately, it’s one of those cases where you may be out of luck,” said Nakia Mills, marketing director for the Better Business Bureau for Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
Fake recruiters are using sophisticated techniques to lure students. In some cases, scammers have posed as faculty members and sent an email urging the student to apply for the fake job.
Scammers also convince students to contribute money to buy home office equipment. Instead, that money ends up in the hands of the fake job advertiser.
“These are convenient jobs for college students, so they’re happy to apply, and they may not have the knowledge to do a little bit of research before they apply, especially for these types of positions because they’re known to be a little bit shady,” Mills said.
Some tips to avoid being scammed include looking up the name of the company or person hiring you and contacting your professor directly if an unexpected email asks you to apply for a job.
Ask the potential employer to send you written details of job duties, pay and hours, and if they refuse, it could be a red flag.
Also, talk to someone you trust. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
The FTC says your company should pay you, not the other way around.
If you are asked to deposit a check and use part of the money for any reason, this is a scam and you should Report it to the FTC.
“We found, especially in our scam tracking report form last year, that we saw that young adults, even though they don’t lose as much money, they get scammed more often, and it’s just a knowledge factor,” Mills said. “The older we get, we’ve been in the real world; we’ve unfortunately learned something, or we learned it from a friend, so we know more. These poor college students, they’re just trying to make some money; they’re just starting out, and they don’t know any better.”
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Jordan Burrows
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