BBB Scam Alert: Employment scams target college students

Milwaukee, Wis. – Many college students seek flexible, part-time employment to help cover school expenses. Finding a job can be challenging, and students may feel pressure to find work quickly. If this situation describes you or a student in your life, watch out for scams. BBB Scam Tracker has gotten reports of employment scams impersonating professors and university departments.

How job scams work

You receive an email to your school email address encouraging you to apply for a job. The message appears to come from your school’s job placement office, student services department, or even a specific professor. The position, which may be anything from pet sitting to mystery shopping, sounds perfect for a college student. The work is easy, has flexible hours, and offers excellent pay.

When you reply to the message, things start to get strange.  The “employer” hires you without an interview. Then, they send you a check with instructions to deposit it before you’ve even done any work. You are instructed to use this money to purchase gift cards, money orders, prepaid debit cards, or other supplies you’ll need for your new job. Part of what you purchase should be sent to your new employer. The rest of the money will be your payment.

However, the check is a fake. I can take weeks for your bank to discover the fraud. By then, any money you send to your “employer” is gone for good, and you’re stuck paying back the bank. In addition, the scammers now have your personal information.

In a recent BBB Scam Tracker report, a student received an email offering a remote job opportunity. The student filled out a Google form with their confidential information including photo copies of their Social Security Card, driver’s license, and bank routing and account number. The scammer sent a fake check and instructed the student to Zelle a portion to another person. The student reports, “I realized today July 20th, 2024 that I was victim of scam because I saw on my bank account that the deposited amount remaining and extra $500 from my money returned with the scammer. I am really anxious, scared not just for my money but most importantly my social security. I couldn’t take whole lot of precautions when I realized it because its weekend and a lot of places like social security office or calling Trans Union or dmv are closed. I was only able to contact my bank.”

One student reported this experience: “I received a message via my school email about a job opportunity with a professor. I reached out to the number and was asked for my resume and a non-school email. When I asked questions about the position, I was told the school would pay for my expenses and I would receive materials from them. They asked what bank I used and if I could deposit checks into my account. When I asked for the professor’s email, the person said they were the professor. However, when I reached out to the professor personally, he said he was not looking for a research assistant and that I must have been dealing with scammers.”

Unfortunately, not all students who reported this scam to BBB Scam Tracker avoided losing money. Another student lamented, “I received a job offer from what I thought was my school. I was sent two checks in the amount of $1,650. I withdrew cash as instructed and bought Bitcoin for the “employer” and sent them a receipt. The next day, the checks bounced and overdrafted my account.”

How to avoid employment scams

• Do your research. Before you say yes to any job, research the company that wants to hire you. Does the company have a professional website and legitimate contact information? Search for what others are saying about their experience with this company.  Do an internet search with the employer’s name and the word “scam” to see if there are reports involving job scams.
• Beware of red flags. Scammers often send emails with many typos and grammatical errors. They offer to hire you without an interview and even pay you before you’ve done any work. None of these are behaviors of a reputable business.
• Examine the email address of those offering jobs to see if it matches the domain used by an actual company. Be alert to Gmail business email addresses.
• Never send money to strangers. Never send funds in cash, checks, gift cards or wire transfers to someone you don’t know or haven’t met. No legitimate company will ask you to pay them to get a job.
• Be very wary of some positions. Some types of jobs are more likely to be scams, such as mystery shopping or secret shopper positions or work-from-home jobs that involve receiving and reshipping packages.

For more information

To learn more about how to avoid employment scams, see BBB.org/EmploymentScam. You can also find valuable information at BBB.org/AvoidScams.

If you’ve been the victim of an employment scam, report it on BBB.org/ScamTracker. Your experience can help others to recognize suspicious behavior and stop scammers in their tracks.

Visit BBB’s Young Adult page for more resources and tips.

View the online version

For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

ABOUT BBB: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2023, people turned to BBB more than 218 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.3 million businesses, and 80,000 times for BBB charity reports on about 12,000 charities, for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States and Canada.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.