Steer clear of online job scams
July 2003

Bogus Web site for PhonyJobs.com.

Being unemployed is bad enough. But job seekers have a new worry: falling victim to criminals and con artists prowling Internet job-posting services.

Online recruiting sites such as Career Builder.com, HotJobs.com, and Monster.com have grown from job-posting boards into Web sites hosting millions of résumés and thousands of jobs. Unfortunately, crooks have also discovered online recruiting, and they’ve been busily devising new schemes to exploit job seekers.

Most scams take one of two forms: either a fraudulent offer of placement assistance or identity theft by someone posing as an employer to gain a job applicant’s personal data. "Swindlers are using the Internet to target millions," says Sheila Adkins, a spokeswoman for the Council of Better Business Bureaus in Arlington, Va.

SURFING FOR JOBS

Americans have flocked to Web sites in search of jobs in recent years. There they can explore postings and take advantage of resume-writing services and personalized coaching. Online recruiters are mum about their effectiveness for job hunters: None of three major sites we queried could cite placement success rates. Indeed, targeted résumés are generally more effective than "resume blasting," says Rebecca Smith of Fremont, Calif., founder of eResumes & Resources (www.eresumes.com).

But recently, some online recruiting sites have begun warning users about scams. "Third parties may have been using résumés and having access for purposes that were not approved," says Colleen McGrath, a Monster.com spokeswoman.

BOGUS JOB OFFERS

One of the most prevalent scams is a cyber-twist on an old con: the fraudulent job-placement scheme. Job hunters who have publicly posted their résumés receive spam e-mail touting phony employment or work-at-home business opportunities. The object is to get the victim to pay a big fee, sometimes thousands of dollars, for job-placement assistance or to start a home business. But the "job openings," often government positions, are nonexistent or can be viewed free in classified ads or online job boards.

Business-opportunity pitches are often illegal pyramid schemes, complete fiction, or thinly disguised multilevel-marketing programs requiring job hunters to make large cash investments. Among the most common "opportunities": medical billing or assembling products such as jewelry at home. (In the latter case, the finished goods are almost always rejected, and victims never recoup their outlay.)

ID ATTACKS

Personal online security probably isn’t foremost in the minds of online job seekers, but it should be, says Pam Dixon, a research fellow with the nonprofit Privacy Foundation in Denver. When investigating online job services recently, she learned that thieves posing as employers respond to résumés posted on the Web, leading job hunters to believe that they are about to be offered a position.

The catch: They must submit to a "pre-employment background check" to be hired. The applicant is asked to provide personal data, which sometimes includes checking-account numbers. The thieves then use the information to create bogus credit cards, take out loans, or drain checking accounts.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Don’t put your Social Security number, birth date, or personal data on a resume.

• Don’t put your home address or phone number on a resume you post publicly.

• Do post your resume anonymously. Anonymous posting allows you to remove all personal identifiers except an e-mail address provided by the Web site.

• Don’t agree online to a background check. You should first have a face-to-face interview and give written consent.

• Don’t pay up front for a job placement; most legitimate placement firms charge employers, not job seekers.
DID YOU