Millions of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic are searching for work - and unfortunately, there are scammers taking advantage of that!
The FBI is warning Americans to look out for fake job listings posted by scammers who impersonate real employers. The scammers might try to steal personal data, credit card information, or try to sell the victim bogus job services. "Cyber criminals executing this scam request the same information as legitimate employers, making it difficult to identify a hiring scam until it is too late," the FBI said in its statement.
More than 16,000 scams were reported in 2020 alone. "According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 16,012 people reported being victims of employment scams in 2020, with losses totaling more than $59 million." The FBI reminds people that employers typically request bank information after you've been hired, NOT before.
If you believe you have been scammed by a fake employer go to Internet Crime Complaint Center. Make sure you can provide them the website where the job was posted and the company the scammers are impersonating.
Photo: Getty