Emily Worden • Next Act Career

Hi everyone,

There are a lot of daunting things about the job search, but there’s one in particular that gets me worked up …

SCAMMERS.

I have been a career coach for eight years and I’ve never seen scams like the ones I see today. The scammers are getting creative with fake profiles, fake job listings, and fake interviews all in the hopes of stealing your data, your privacy, or your money. 

Job scams are everywhere these days, and I don’t want you falling for it. Here’s a running list of red flags that I have observed in scam job listings:

🚩 You are offered a job before completing an interview.

🚩 The company offers to host the interview via text message (or an app like Signal), rather than in-person or over Zoom.

🚩 The company asks for your personal information (like address, DOB, SSN, or banking information) - that information is requested only AFTER you sign a job offer and they are setting up payroll.

🚩 The pay is higher than usual, or the benefits are quite generous ("85% WFH," which does not exist).

🚩 A *very* flexible schedule.

🚩 Vague job descriptions and replies from the "recruiter."

🚩 Typos and grammatical errors in the correspondence - one or two errors is understandable, but if you see a pattern it's a red flag.

🚩 The company offers to pay you for "office equipment" or asks you to "pay to apply."

🚩 Incomplete company information, or you can't find reliable company/recruiter information online.

🚩 The company says you will "make money fast" or the pay is 100% commission-based.

🚩 The company tries to sell you resume writing services.

If you frequently apply for jobs on sites like Indeed, you are particularly susceptible to scams. Blech! It’s one of the many reasons I don’t recommend applying for jobs through job boards. 

Do you think a job or recruiter is suspicious? Here's what to do:

✅ Research the company - search for their name online:

• Do they have a website? (Does it look legit? Check WhoIs, what's the registration info?)
• Do they have a LinkedIn profile? (Are they active on it? Do they have many connections? When was the account created?)
• Can you find a long company history online? (If you see a lot of search results about the person or company, that's a good sign.)

✅ Go to the company website - is the job listed there?

• That's a good sign! Apply for the job through the company website.

✅ Finally, follow JAY JONES on LinkedIn. He’s a super sleuth scammer slayer who has helped remove 14,000 fake jobs and over 6,000 fake resume writers/recruiters from LinkedIn. His insights are invaluable to protect yourself during the job search.

I love Jay’s work so much that I’m partnering with him for an event on THURSDAY, January 23 at 12:00 pm EST …

JOB SEEKERS: HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMS 

• Thursday, January  23 at 12:00 pm EST on Zoom. 
• The event will be recorded and shared if you can’t attend live. Event details + registration
• Price: $7 

All proceeds will go to Jay so that he can continue his important work as a scam buster. (Jay is a Senior Copywriter who is Open to Work, and busts scammers in his spare time. He is not paid for this valuable work.)

This event will cover: 

• Why scams happen
• Types of scams to look for
• Red flags you're dealing with a scam
• What to do if you found a scam 
• What to do if you fell victim to a scam
• How to protect yourself from a scam

Hope to see you there! Register for the event here: 

Register via LinkedIn 

Event details + registration 

Pay directly here 

To your success, 

- Emily

Emily Worden