Iowans need to watch out for job-seeking scams

DES MOINES — Iowans are being warned to beware of the latest rash of employment scams. 

Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Lisa Schiller says these scammers are generally targeting people between the ages of 18 and 34. She says consumers are having their information harvested off of different job search websites, like Indeed.com.  “They’re contacted, and then they’re offered a job,” she says, “and they’re told that they need to give personal information such as a checking account so that they can be paid direct deposit.”

That information can be used to conduct further scams, and the crooks also like to pair this with sending bad checks to the victims to get the money that way.   Schiller says, “Scammers sending fake checks and saying, ‘This is for your remote work-at-home job, go cash this, use the money for supplies, etcetera, and then send the rest back to us.'”

Employment scams ranked #2 on the bureau’s 2022 risk report, and Schiller says the reason they were so effective was COVID.  “This just goes to show that scammers, whatever works for them, they just keep using it,” she says.

People who were caught in this scam lost more than $1500 on average. Schiller says if you encounter something shady in your job search, report it to the authorities.

bbb.org/iowa