Job seekers are already under a lot of pressure to find the right job, for the right pay, location and schedule. They also have to be on the lookout for scams.
The Better Business Bureau estimates that 14 million people are exposed to employment scams each year, losing job hunters $2 billion annually. And since many companies now have fully remote communication and interview processes for their candidates, scammers are primed to take full advantage of prospective applicants from behind a screen.
From faking URLs to phishing, Flexjobs, a search engine for remote jobs, has put together a list of common job scams to keep in mind while clicking through job ads. While Flexjobs vets every job posting on their site, job seekers should still be cautious regardless of where they are looking for opportunities. Fortunately, the red flags are easy to spot once people are aware of them, says Toni Frana, lead career expert at Flexjobs.
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"Keywords like "free work from home job," "quick money" and "unlimited earning potential" are red flags and require the job seeker to do additional research to protect themselves," says Frana. "Also look out for a sense of urgency, like they try to hire you without interviewing you."
Other common warning signs include the "recruiter" contacting someone through a generic email address, since most companies have their own email service provider, or asking the candidate to front money and promising to reimburse them at a later date. Frana encourages people to always do their due diligence on the company they are communicating with and report suspicious job posts to the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission.
Here are seven common scams to avoid on the next job hunt, according to Flexjobs.