Job scam reports on the rise in 2023 according to BBB

BBB officials say that in just the past year, their offices received nearly 50 employment scam reports from people living in the Western Michigan service area, where people reported losing more than $15,000 total from employment scams.

Several of the reports described how scammers found resumes on job listing sites like Indeed and tailored their scams to an individual’s background, sometimes impersonating real companies.

In many cases reported to BBB, scammers set up a job interview over email, phone or voice chat. They ask serious interview questions and give their target the impression the job is legitimate. Then the scammer may ask for their social security number, bank account numbers or other personal information to do a background check or set up direct deposit.

Others may run a slower scam, offering a job later on. That offer might even come with an acceptance letter and an attractive salary, all on official-looking letterhead.

The most common type of employment scam in Western Michigan is the “reshipping scam”.

Scammers recruit their targets to be the address to which they send stolen goods or money. The worker believes they are part of the logistics team for an international shipping business and forwards the packages on to the scammer. Come pay day the employer disappears. Not only has the victim, known as a money mule, lost their time and sometimes money for expenses, but they have also become one of the scammers.

Money mules themselves can sometimes be prosecuted for their participation in scams, even if they claim to be unwitting victims.

A Newaygo County woman was contacted by a fake logistics company, offering her a job as a package inspector. She started the work but after a month, never saw a paycheck. She tried calling and emailing but the company wouldn’t respond. Then, she was completely blocked out of the online work site she had been using. She claims she lost over $3,600 in wages.

Tips for job seekers:

• Research companies offering jobs at BBB.org.  Find a number on the business’ website and call to confirm the job offer is real.

• Check the email address to ensure that it is connected to the company and not a personal “gmail” or “yahoo” address.

• Be cautious providing personal information to unverified recruiters and online applications.

• Be skeptical of jobs requiring you to pay money for supplies or other business functions. Never cash a check for more than you are owed.

• Be wary of offers for jobs you didn’t apply for, interviews strictly done over email, and remote jobs where the pay seems too good to be true.

• Be skeptical of Mystery shopping, re-shipping, check-cashing and car wrap job offers.

Visit bbb.org/scamstudies for more on this and other scams.