This Baltimore job hunter avoided an employment scam by remembering this 1 unwritten rule — here’s what it is

Thankfully, Porter reported the incident to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) so they could intervene. “My thought was, ‘I can’t let this go, because somebody is going to be naive enough to buy this stuff,’” Porter said.

“If it doesn’t seem right, double check, call the company,” she added. “[Go] that extra mile, because that shows that you are proactive [in] protecting yourself and others.”

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Studies have shown that the pandemic has paved the way for an uptick in job-related scams, specifically involving remote positions.

The BBB revealed that an estimated 14 million people are exposed to employment scams every year, resulting in $2 billion in direct losses.

In addition, a report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that job scam activity increased by a whopping 118% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the median loss for employment fraud victims was $2,000, per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If that’s a sum of money you’d rather not lose, it’s important to know what red flags to look for.

First, be wary of any offer that seems too good to be true. If the annual salary is $100,000 to sell pet products online from home with flexible hours and zero experience needed? It most likely won’t be legitimate.

If you’re uncertain, trust your gut and do your own research. Don’t accept any job offer until you’ve thoroughly looked into the company and the position posted online.

Next, you should never be required to send money or make specific purchases that you’d then send to a company. It’s one thing for a company to require that you have access to a laptop in general. But if they tell you to buy a specific laptop and ask you to send it to them for upgrades, that’s a major red flag.

The same goes for a company telling you to send cash or gift cards as part of the onboarding process, since you should never have to pay a fee as part of an employment check. On the flip side, no honest employer would send you a “check” in order to buy work supplies and require you to send back any money that is leftover. More often than not, that check will bounce.

Also, don’t assume that a job is legitimate just because it’s posted on a platform you recognize. The BBB reports that scammers commonly use sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter to engage with their targets. In fact, 32% of employment fraud victims came across the scam job posting on LinkedIn, one of the most popular job search tools.

Now one tricky thing is that it is common practice to have to share your Social Security number with an employer. But you also don’t want that number to fall into the wrong hands.

So before you take that step, do your own research, like Porter did. Make sure the company has a legitimate website, but also call the company directly using the number provided on the website and speak to an actual person to ensure the offer you’re pursuing is legitimate.

Also, be on the lookout for companies that contact you out of the blue with an offer for a remote job. It’s pretty unlikely to get recruited without initiating contact yourself.

Fortunately, Porter has a couple decades of work experience under her belt, so she was aware of what red flags to look out for. If you take many of the same steps she did, you’ll likely avoid becoming a victim of employment fraud yourself.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.