Job search scams come to you via email, but you also find scams posted on websites as well, from the big name job boards and social networks to a small local employer or recruiter.<\/p>\n
If you are unsure of a job opportunity you may find, or that may be sent to you by someone you don\u2019t know, use this Sniff Test (below) to verify that the opportunity is real (or not).<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Yes, it is a P-I-T-A (as in, a pain-in-the-a\u2026) to do this research, but right now you really don\u2019t have other viable options to protect yourself. This is a MUCH less expensive and easier to do than cleaning up the mess after your identity has been stolen.<\/p>\n
5-Steps to Verify <\/em>Before You Trust<\/em><\/h2>\nAvoid job scams by doing this sniff test. Don’t take the time and go to the effort to apply for a job posting unless you know it is legitimate.<\/p>\n
This is a variation on the old trust-but-verify saying. Trust AFTER you have verified that a job is “real” by being sure that the employer passes this sniff test.<\/p>\n
1. Who Is the Employer or Recruiter? <\/em><\/h3>\nBe very<\/em> cautious if there is no employer or recruiter name associated with the job posting. Independent recruiters often legitimately recruit for employers, but the recruiter should provide you with their own name and contact information (which you must verify).<\/p>\nRecruiters may not tell you who the employer is because they are afraid you will go directly to the employer, eliminating their commission for finding you. But, legitimate recruiters will be happy to provide you with have no need to protect their name from you.<\/p>\n
\n- \n
Check the email address or website domain name. <\/strong><\/h4>\nA posting should have an email address or link for responding. Check to see if that is a legitimate domain name (more below).<\/p>\n
If the posting came via email,<\/em> check the From: address. Is it a real person or is it someone using a Gmail or other relatively anonymous and generic email provider. Should an employer be named in the posting, the From: address should agree with that name or be clear that it is a third party recruiter representing the employer.<\/li>\n- \n
Check the phone number if no email address or website domain name is given. <\/strong><\/h4>\nDo the phone number lookup below before calling the employer. Once you have called them, they have your phone number, so verify the posting and employer or contact first.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDo NOT respond until you know the employer or the recruiter is legitimate!<\/p>\n
2. What Does Google Know About This Employer or Recruiter? <\/em><\/h3>\nGoogle the employer\u2019s or recruiting company\u2019s name, address, and phone number, or other contact information you have, to see what you find.<\/p>\n
If they have a Website, Google should find it for you.<\/p>\n
However, do NOT<\/em> automatically trust them because they have a Website (see # 3, below)!<\/p>\n\n- \n
Employer\/recruiter name look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\nSearch on the employer\u2019s name by putting the name inside double quotes, like this \u201cSmith Company Inc.\u201c (if Smith Company Inc. was the employer you are trying to find).<\/p>\n
If the only<\/em> results from that search are job postings on many different job boards, that is a very bad indicator<\/strong><\/em>. A legitimate company, to stay in business, must have more of a presence on the Web than just job postings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNOTE: <\/strong>Be sure that you match the exact spelling and wording<\/strong><\/em> in your query! \u201cSmith\u2019s Restaurants\u201d and \u201cBill Smith\u2019s Restaurants\u201d may or MAY NOT be the same organization.<\/p>\nAnd, SmithsRestaurants.com, SmithsRestaurantsInc<\/em>.com, and SmithsRestaurants.net may \u2013 or may NOT<\/em> \u2013 be owned by the same organization. One could be real. Two could be real. All could be real, but unrelated. Or one could be real and the others could be bogus, pretending to be the real one. You won’t know unless you check. <\/em><\/li>\n- \n
Phone number look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\nIf they\u2019ve given you a phone number, Google the phone number to see what Google can tell you about them and to see where else that phone number appears.<\/p>\n
If Google doesn\u2019t know about the phone number, it is on a website listing sources of annoying phone calls, or it shows up on a completely unrelated list of phone numbers (e.g., dial-in numbers for an Internet service provider), do NOT trust it or the job posting or the job posting source.<\/li>\n
- \n
Address look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\nIf they\u2019ve given you an address, Google the address to see what Google can tell you about it. If Google has the address in their database, check Google Maps to see what it shows you \u2013 a business district, a cemetery, or an empty field. Google isn\u2019t always right, so double-check with SuperPages (see # 3 below).<\/li>\n
- \n
Social media presence: <\/strong><\/h4>\nCheck for a company page on LinkedIn, Facebook, or your other favorite social networks. Be very cautious if you find NOTHING for THIS employer or recruiter (with same name and location).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For more tips, read 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Who and Where Are They? <\/em><\/h3>\nOnce you are positive you have a name match, look for concrete, verifiable contact information on the website, on the home page or on Contact or About pages – a street, city, state, and Zip plus a non-800 phone number.<\/p>\n
\n- A form for you to complete on their website, telling you nothing about them, is NOT sufficient “contact” information.<\/strong><\/li>\n
- A link that opens up a new email message from you <\/em>tells you nothing about them and is NOT contact information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If you only have an email message from them, look for contact information in the signature space at the bottom of the message. If there is nothing or only a phone number, do NOT assume that the requestor is legitimate. IF there is information, verify it (more below) before responding.<\/p>\n
4. Does a Legitimate 3rd Party Directory Have Them Listed? <\/em><\/h3>\nDo a quick look up using the company name on Hoovers.com<\/a>, SuperPages.com,<\/a> or the Better Business Bureau<\/a> to see if the address and\/or phone number for the employer or recruiter are listed. Compare with the job posting or the website to confirm that the contact information belongs to the employer or recruiter.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
5. Is the Email Address Associated with Who They Say They Are? <\/em><\/h3>\nIf there is an email address for response, check to be sure it is from the employer\u2019s domain name, e.g. HR [or recruiting or a person\u2019s name]@[employer-name].com<\/strong> but NOT<\/em> [employer-name]@gmail.com, [employer-name]@yahoo.com, or [employer-name]@ some other public email provider.<\/p>\nTake Job-Hunt\u2019s \u201cScam\/Phish Proof Quiz<\/a>\u201d and read the \u201cUnderstanding Domain Names<\/a>\u201d article to be sure you understand how domain names and email addresses work.<\/p>\nOr, Contact the Employer Directly<\/h2>\n
If you still aren\u2019t sure that the job is legitimate, contact the employer, using the SuperPages.com or Hoovers.com official contact information, to confirm that the opportunity is real.<\/p>\n
If they haven\u2019t posted the job, they will appreciate knowing that someone is abusing their name and identity. If they have<\/em> posted the job, you\u2019ll get a chance to talk with them to see if it\u2019s still open and how friendly they sound.<\/p>\nBottom Line<\/h3>\n
If the situation doesn\u2019t feel right to you, follow your instincts and walk away from the opportunity. It may be your smartest move.<\/p>\n
Typical Online Job Scams:<\/h3>\n\n- Driver’s License Job Scam<\/a><\/li>\n
- Reshipper and Payment Rep Scam Jobs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
More About Spotting Scam Jobs:<\/h3>\n\n- 9 Characteristics of a Job Scam<\/a><\/li>\n
- 5 Types of Online Job Scams<\/a><\/li>\n
- Quiz: How Scam\/Phish Proof Are You?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n![\"Susan](\"https:\/\/job-hunt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Joyce_081203_12-6.jpg\")
About the author…<\/strong><\/p>\nOnline job search expert Susan P. Joyce<\/a> has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff \u201cgraduate\u201d who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>.
\nMore about this author<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 quick and easy steps to avoid job scams by verifying that a job posting is or is NOT a scam job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":24984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"old-site-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,15,34,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-job-search-advice","category-finding-jobs","category-jobs","category-remote-jobs"],"last_modified_at":"","edited_by":"Wendy Fecteau","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24222,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153\/revisions\/24222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Be very<\/em> cautious if there is no employer or recruiter name associated with the job posting. Independent recruiters often legitimately recruit for employers, but the recruiter should provide you with their own name and contact information (which you must verify).<\/p>\n Recruiters may not tell you who the employer is because they are afraid you will go directly to the employer, eliminating their commission for finding you. But, legitimate recruiters will be happy to provide you with have no need to protect their name from you.<\/p>\n A posting should have an email address or link for responding. Check to see if that is a legitimate domain name (more below).<\/p>\n If the posting came via email,<\/em> check the From: address. Is it a real person or is it someone using a Gmail or other relatively anonymous and generic email provider. Should an employer be named in the posting, the From: address should agree with that name or be clear that it is a third party recruiter representing the employer.<\/li>\n Do the phone number lookup below before calling the employer. Once you have called them, they have your phone number, so verify the posting and employer or contact first.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Do NOT respond until you know the employer or the recruiter is legitimate!<\/p>\n Google the employer\u2019s or recruiting company\u2019s name, address, and phone number, or other contact information you have, to see what you find.<\/p>\n If they have a Website, Google should find it for you.<\/p>\n However, do NOT<\/em> automatically trust them because they have a Website (see # 3, below)!<\/p>\n Search on the employer\u2019s name by putting the name inside double quotes, like this \u201cSmith Company Inc.\u201c (if Smith Company Inc. was the employer you are trying to find).<\/p>\n If the only<\/em> results from that search are job postings on many different job boards, that is a very bad indicator<\/strong><\/em>. A legitimate company, to stay in business, must have more of a presence on the Web than just job postings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n NOTE: <\/strong>Be sure that you match the exact spelling and wording<\/strong><\/em> in your query! \u201cSmith\u2019s Restaurants\u201d and \u201cBill Smith\u2019s Restaurants\u201d may or MAY NOT be the same organization.<\/p>\n And, SmithsRestaurants.com, SmithsRestaurantsInc<\/em>.com, and SmithsRestaurants.net may \u2013 or may NOT<\/em> \u2013 be owned by the same organization. One could be real. Two could be real. All could be real, but unrelated. Or one could be real and the others could be bogus, pretending to be the real one. You won’t know unless you check. <\/em><\/li>\n If they\u2019ve given you a phone number, Google the phone number to see what Google can tell you about them and to see where else that phone number appears.<\/p>\n If Google doesn\u2019t know about the phone number, it is on a website listing sources of annoying phone calls, or it shows up on a completely unrelated list of phone numbers (e.g., dial-in numbers for an Internet service provider), do NOT trust it or the job posting or the job posting source.<\/li>\n If they\u2019ve given you an address, Google the address to see what Google can tell you about it. If Google has the address in their database, check Google Maps to see what it shows you \u2013 a business district, a cemetery, or an empty field. Google isn\u2019t always right, so double-check with SuperPages (see # 3 below).<\/li>\n Check for a company page on LinkedIn, Facebook, or your other favorite social networks. Be very cautious if you find NOTHING for THIS employer or recruiter (with same name and location).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n For more tips, read 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once you are positive you have a name match, look for concrete, verifiable contact information on the website, on the home page or on Contact or About pages – a street, city, state, and Zip plus a non-800 phone number.<\/p>\n If you only have an email message from them, look for contact information in the signature space at the bottom of the message. If there is nothing or only a phone number, do NOT assume that the requestor is legitimate. IF there is information, verify it (more below) before responding.<\/p>\n Do a quick look up using the company name on Hoovers.com<\/a>, SuperPages.com,<\/a> or the Better Business Bureau<\/a> to see if the address and\/or phone number for the employer or recruiter are listed. Compare with the job posting or the website to confirm that the contact information belongs to the employer or recruiter.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n If there is an email address for response, check to be sure it is from the employer\u2019s domain name, e.g. HR [or recruiting or a person\u2019s name]@[employer-name].com<\/strong> but NOT<\/em> [employer-name]@gmail.com, [employer-name]@yahoo.com, or [employer-name]@ some other public email provider.<\/p>\n Take Job-Hunt\u2019s \u201cScam\/Phish Proof Quiz<\/a>\u201d and read the \u201cUnderstanding Domain Names<\/a>\u201d article to be sure you understand how domain names and email addresses work.<\/p>\n If you still aren\u2019t sure that the job is legitimate, contact the employer, using the SuperPages.com or Hoovers.com official contact information, to confirm that the opportunity is real.<\/p>\n If they haven\u2019t posted the job, they will appreciate knowing that someone is abusing their name and identity. If they have<\/em> posted the job, you\u2019ll get a chance to talk with them to see if it\u2019s still open and how friendly they sound.<\/p>\n If the situation doesn\u2019t feel right to you, follow your instincts and walk away from the opportunity. It may be your smartest move.<\/p>\n Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce<\/a> has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a recent Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Susan is a two-time layoff \u201cgraduate\u201d who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. Since 1998, Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt.org. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg<\/a> and on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>. 5 quick and easy steps to avoid job scams by verifying that a job posting is or is NOT a scam job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":24984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"old-site-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,15,34,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-job-search-advice","category-finding-jobs","category-jobs","category-remote-jobs"],"last_modified_at":"","edited_by":"Wendy Fecteau","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24222,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5153\/revisions\/24222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Check the email address or website domain name. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Check the phone number if no email address or website domain name is given. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. What Does Google Know About This Employer or Recruiter? <\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
Employer\/recruiter name look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Phone number look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Address look-up: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
Social media presence: <\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Who and Where Are They? <\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
4. Does a Legitimate 3rd Party Directory Have Them Listed? <\/em><\/h3>\n
5. Is the Email Address Associated with Who They Say They Are? <\/em><\/h3>\n
Or, Contact the Employer Directly<\/h2>\n
Bottom Line<\/h3>\n
Typical Online Job Scams:<\/h3>\n
\n
More About Spotting Scam Jobs:<\/h3>\n
\n
\nAbout the author…<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMore about this author<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"