How Do I Know If A Job Is Legitimate?

A legitimate looking job might be a cover for a fraudulent scam to access your personal information or con you out of your money. Act cautiously to avoid being a fraud victim during your next job search.

General Advice To Avoid A Job Scam:

  • In one of the most common scams in general, the scammer will entice the victim by promising something  (a job, for example), then create a reason to send the victim a check. The scammer will ask the victim to deposit the check in their bank account, and use a portion of it to either send to another account or buy gift cards to send to someone else. The check is fake, however. Checks take several days to fully clear, but it will look like the funds are available immediately in the victim's account. When the check bounces, the victim owes the bank however much of the check they spent, and the scammer has the money or gift cards the victim forwarded. 
  • When you post your resume online read the site´s privacy policy to make sure you can easily delete your resume from the site when you want.
  • Do not trust a job offer requiring you to transfer money in order to secure an employment position. Legitimate employers will never ask you to pay to get a job. 
  • If someone offers you a job after seeing your resume online, but persistently seeks more of your personal information you would be wise to call the company to verify that the person is legitimate. Look up the company´s phone number online rather than calling a number given to you by the person offering the job.
  • An advertisement in a newspaper or magazine may attempt to copy the image of a well-known company or government agency in order to look legitimate. You should contact the actual company or government agency to make sure the ad is really sponsored by the respective entity before calling the number given in the ad.
  • Check the Federal Trade Commision's website for trending scams