The US unemployment numbers were released earlier this week and they remained high, at almost 10% and higher in some locales. Indicative of large numbers of the population continue to find employment. Often times an attractive situation isn’t geographically near and relocation isn’t an option for a myriad of reasons. For others, the expense of childcare or transportation makes an available position not economically feasible. For many, nirvana is defined as a position which will allow one “to work from home.” We all know someone who is in this boat. Our efforts to assist are always appreciated.
Know, there are those who flooding us with opportunities, opportunities which unfortunately are finding their way into our inboxes. To the credit of my internet service provider, as well as the anti-spam and anti-phish software running on my machines, the large majority of what I am about to share was labled as “suspect.” But just in case your email isn’t filtered as nicely as my own, I thought I would share some job opportunities which you should run, not walk, away from.
From January 12-31 I received no fewer than 22 separate emails offering opportunities to earn from home. Here are a number of their subject lines” — “The $40,000 monthly Income Information You Have Requested;”
— “2 people needed immediately….YOU can earn $131,000 in the next 14 to 15 weeks!”
Attorney General of Ohio offers these tips to protect yourself:
To protect yourself, look for these signs of a scam
•Companies that contact you out of the blue to offer you a job.
•A bad business reputation (or no reputation at all).
•Companies that are not registered with the Ohio Secretary of State.
•Jobs to evaluate wire transferring services, such as MoneyGram and Western Union.
•Requests for wire transfers or upfront payments.
•Requests for your personal information and account numbers.
•Firms promoting “previously undisclosed” federal government jobs.
Tips to avoid scams
•Always initiate transactions yourself. Don’t trust companies that contact you unexpectedly.
•Check a company’s reputation with the Better Business Bureau and search complaints filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
•Make sure the company is registered with the Secretary of State. To do business in Ohio, most companies must register with the Ohio Secretary of State.
•Contact current and former employees to ask about their experiences with the company.
•Guard your Social Security number and bank account numbers.
— Better Business Bureau:
The BBB’s complete advice piece has identified the following categories as the most common scams:
•Assembly Work at Home
•Chain Letters.
•Envelope Stuffing.
•Multi-Level Marketing
•Online Business
•Processing Medical Insurance Claims
Are there organizations which are doing something about this? Yes. Please allow me to commend to your attention the good works of Phish Bucket, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting job seekers from fraudulent job offers. They offer a data base of fraudulent offers and a Job Tank of “Phish Free Jobs.” Their mission statement says it all: “PhishBucket.org is a clearinghouse of suspicious employment-related email offers, the vast majority of which are reported to us by job seekers and other concerned folks. All of the job offers posted here are considered to be suspicious or outright fraudulent in nature. We track and investigate these offers to help job seekers identify the good ones from the bad. We cooperate with law enforcement by providing all the information at our disposal to help shut down phishing operations that target your livelihood. We also provide news and alerts about job scams, as well as relevant online safety and career-related resources”