Employment scams rise in COVID-19 shutdown

Employment scams have consistently ranked in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot for Better Business Bureau’s annual riskiest scams report. Recently we’ve found that in today’s economic climate, consumers are at an even higher risk of falling prey, according to a new survey conducted by BBB*.

COVID-19 has raised unemployment levels across the nation, making remote work opportunities even more attractive. More than half of those we surveyed said the reason they clicked on a phony listing was that it offered the flexibility to work from home. However, it is this pool of consumers — unemployed and genuinely in need of work — that is most susceptible.

Our survey showed that more than half of the people targeted by employment scams (53 percent) reported being unemployed at the time of the encounter. Moreover, three-quarters of respondents who lost money were already in financial crisis.

These numbers illustrate that scammers often take advantage of the most vulnerable consumers. So, during these trying times, jobseekers must remain vigilant as employment scams become increasingly hard to spot.

Scammers are going to great lengths to dupe applicants by hosting phone calls and Zoom meetings, even providing official-looking offer letters. This is all to gain personally identifiable information and get the consumer to participate in a fake-check scam as part of the process.

Sometimes it’s personal information that’s lost — our survey found that 26 percent of consumers unknowingly engaging in a scam gave out their Social Security number.

Frequently, there’s monetary loss as well. BBB found consumers ages 25-44 lost on average $1,000, while those ages 45-64 and 65+ lost $1,600.

Our findings also show that scammers continue to use big-brand names to lure consumers, with Amazon and Walmart being the most common. And there’s a reason for this: 65 percent of consumers reported they were looking at positions related to “warehouse redistribution coordinator” or a similar title, which means reshipping stolen products. The use of a misleading euphemism as a job title is an all-too-common tactic that scammers use to get people to sign onto doing something illegal.

Better Business Bureau offers these tips for consumers and business owners to protect themselves better and, most importantly, learn how to spot legitimate job offerings during these tough times.

If you’re a consumer applying for jobs:

• Be wary of vague descriptions. To reach as many people as possible, scammers list job requirements that are broad enough for anyone to qualify.

• Don’t fall for the cushy offer. Many phony listings offer jobs that are just too good to be true. One common theme is the opportunity to make “thousands from the comfort of your couch.” Think twice.

• Look out for fake checks. Employment and fake check scams often intersect. Be wary if an “employer” asks you to deposit a check and then wire back funds to another account for training, equipment, technology, or onboarding “purposes.”

If you’re a business owner, make sure that your job postings are detailed and verifiable. Consider the following:

• Be consistent. Ensure all jobs you post on third-party websites are also posted in an accessible way on your website so applicants can confirm which jobs are real.

• Centralize the information. Be thinking about where you post all open positions and try to keep the information centralized on one or two landing pages. Also, update your page when a job is no longer available.

• Give details: Be very specific about your company’s hiring process, what each open position entails, and desired qualifications. Remember, con-artists rely on broad descriptions, so the more detailed your listing is, the more confidence a consumer will have.

BBB is here to help you, so if you have any questions or information about scams you have seen, please let us know, and we’d be happy to help! For more information on businesses, scams, and complaints, you can call 208-342-4649 or find us online at www.bbb.org!

• — This report examines findings from an April 2020 survey of 10,670 U.S. and Canadian consumers reporting to BBB Scam Tracker.

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About BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has helped people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. In 2019, people turned to BBB more than 182 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.6 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at www.bbb.org.