Student Job Scam
This Fall, there has been an alarming increase in the number of fake job scams sent to college students. These jobs may be advertised on job sites or sent unsolicited to a student's campus email account. Although it’s impossible to cover every possible component of the scam, it generally includes one or more of the following:
- Unsolicited - You didn't apply for this job.
- Little or no effort required to apply. No resume or job application.
- Urgency (i.e., there are only a few positions available, and they're going fast)
- Too good to be true - too much money for very little, if any work.
- No face-to-face interaction with the employer.
- Employer's email is not a business account but uses Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.
- In some cases, the email addresses of faculty, staff and other students have been compromised and used to send fake job scams. Just because it appears to come from someone at your institution doesn't mean it isn't a scam.
A few more things:
- A legitimate business will not ask you to pay for a background check, training materials or equipment to do the job.
- All employers will eventually need personal information such as an address, phone number, social security number, personal phone number and emergency contact information. However, before providing that information, carefully review the points above and consider verifying the hiring person's information. For example, contact the company using a phone number from a reliable external source such as Google and verify that the person works there, and speak to them if possible.
More information can be found here -