Employment scams are common but there are ways to protect your money, personal info

With university graduates searching for post-grad work and students looking for summer jobs, the Better Business Bureau Atlantic is warning job seekers about employment scams.

"These types of scams are problematic for sure throughout the year … but certainly, you know, instances of reporting can go up in more popular times for people to be looking for employment," said Julia Lewis, president and CEO of the Atlantic chapter.

According to the bureau's national risk report, employment scams ranked the second riskiest scam in 2024.

Lewis said this is because these scams have a high median loss at around $2,500.

She said there's a few ways scammers target job seekers for money. One way is to put the applicant through somewhat of a hiring process, which is usually quite quick, and the scammer will say they're sending the person a cheque — whether it's for office equipment or gift cards for clients.

"They will send the cheque, the person will go off to the bank, they'll cash it [and] immediately, they will get a message from the scammer saying, 'Oh, we've actually oversent money to you, can you please send us back a … certain amount?'" said Lewis.

"They're sending that money back, unfortunately, before the cheque is cleared and, you know, the cheque never clears, and then they end up also being out the money that they sent."

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's website, there has recently been an increase in crypto job frauds. Using real names of companies, the scammers will offer people freelance jobs to boost products, apps or videos on a software. 

But once the person installs the software, they will receive tasks they need to complete and may receive a small payment to prove legitimacy. 

Then, the scammers will say you can earn higher commissions by boosting more products but the person will need to pay fees to gain access to that work. 

When the victim deposits the money, they'll be able to see it in their crypto account, but won't have the ability to withdraw it or the money they earn. 

Vigilance encouraged during application phase

While employment scams don't typically occur during the initial application or contact, Lewis said it's always a good idea not to blindly apply to a posting without doing your own research first.

Moncton-based Beverly Somers, the co-founder and managing partner for Smart Human Resource Solutions, said it can be a good idea to get in touch with the person listed on the posting or, for larger companies, see if you can find someone in your network who can confirm the validity of the company or job.

She said the applicant could also check the company's social media pages, such as LinkedIn, to see if you have any contacts who work there.

"It's a little bit of background work that, you know, people might need to do, but it's a good way … just to validate and make a connection with somebody in the company," said Somers, adding that it could also help ensure your application gets seen.

Somers said when people are applying to jobs, they should never be required to provide personal information for an application such as date of birth, an address or your social insurance number.

And Lewis said it's important for job seekers to look for indicators, such as a potential employer wanting to set up an interview over some kind of messaging app rather than a video call. 

The position may be advertised as a work-from-home opportunity, offering a salary that seems "too good to be true" for the role.

"They're often wanting you to make a decision really quickly, so they may offer you the job on the spot … to get, in those instances, your personal information through social insurance number, your banking information, that type of thing," said Lewis.

"Be aware of the red flags."