Job seekers, beware. In the first three months of 2023, Better Business Bureau (BBB) Scam Tracker received reported losses of nearly $840,000, up over 250% compared to last year. With a median loss of over $1,500 during that timeframe, job hunters tell BBB the financial impact is devastating.
Since BBB issued the 2021 study, Job Scams: BBB study finds job scams increased during the pandemic and warns job seekers to verify employment offers to avoid illegal jobs, identity theft, and fake checks, the blistering pace at which fraudsters ensnare the public in employment scams has increased each year, according to BBB data. In extreme cases, some individuals found themselves in a deep financial hole with little recourse.
For Donald from Lake Placid, Florida, it started with an email. A woman calling herself Laura Hoffman said she worked for a company called International and wanted to offer him a reshipping job. All Donald needed to do was purchase and send computers overseas. The pay would be $76,000 with bonuses.
Donald wanted to test the offer’s legitimacy, so he bought a single Apple computer and sent it to an address in Hong Kong. He eagerly awaited the reimbursement on his credit card, and, to his surprise, it came through quickly. After that, he threw himself into the job, buying and shipping over $100,000 computers.
Things were going exceptionally well until one day, in late January, the payments on his card disappeared. They were fraudulent, his bank said, and Donald immediately owed the total balance on his cards. He frantically reached out to Laura Hoffman and Also International, but they were nowhere to be found. Donald had been scammed out of $105,000. He still hasn’t been able to resolve the issue with his bank.
“I am afraid to apply for another job,” Donald told BBB in an interview.
How do employment scams work?
Like many scams, those perpetuating employment fraud seek at least one of two things from their potential marks:…
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