Don't Get Duped by Employment Scams

Yesterday, Kirkwood Patch told you about the . Today, we have tips from the Better Business Bureau on how to avoid becoming a victim yourself.

Chris Thetford, vice president of communications for the Better Business Bureau, said his office hears reports of employment scams as often as 10 to 15 times each day.

Sometimes, the victim is required to wire money for a background or security check. When the job turns out to be a scam, the money is already gone.

Thetford called paying for background checks a “red flag.” “You shouldn’t have to pay to get a job,” he said.

Other scams, , send victims checks and ask them to wire money back to the potential employer immediately. When the check turns out to be fake, the victim loses the money he or she already wired.

“It’s easy to make things look like a check,” even when they’re not, Thetford said. But the banks aren’t fooled, and the victim is the one who loses out.

“The scam will take on many, many different forms, and the common feature is there’s always a request to wire money,” Thetford said.

Thetford compares wiring money to an unknown potential employer to standing in a grocery store parking lot handing out $100 bills.

“You are giving cash to somebody you don’t know, and its virtually impossible to get it back,” he said. “Your cash is gone because it’s cash.” 

The bottom line?

“You shouldn’t be wiring money if you are not wiring it to somebody that you know.”