Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

Scammers Target Panicky Job Hunters

Experts warn work-from-home frauds are mushrooming as unemployment rises

Share

(Newser) – Scammers are taking advantage of the recession to con people desperately seeking work out of what little cash they have left, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Watchdog groups warn that phony work-from-home offers promising quick cash in return for an initial outlay of money are proliferating, and that some fraudsters are also using job applications to harvest personal information for identity theft.

Some scams take place online, like one operation busted in Georgia recently that charged people $260 to train as bartenders for a nonexistent nightclub. Experts strongly advise jobseekers to be on their guard. "If it sounds too good to be true, most of the time it is," said one woman. She is still fighting to get her money back from a firm that charged her $75 after she ordered a $1.97 CD on how to earn money online.

Experts warn that scams taking advantage of job seekers are mushrooming as the unemployment rate rises.
Experts warn that scams taking advantage of job seekers are mushrooming as the unemployment rate rises.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Experts advise jobseekers to be wary of work-from-home offers, especially when the work involves paying initial fees for training or registration.
Experts advise jobseekers to be wary of work-from-home offers, especially when the work involves paying initial fees for training or registration.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

With the economy the way it is, there is more opportunity out there to try and deceive people. Especially work-at-home scams, they come across as you can make a lot of fast money. - Leslie Hoppey, a special agent with the Internet Crime Complaint Center

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

134 Stories

FUZZY MATH DEPT


 Q3 GDP Growth More 
 Like 2.8% Than 3.5% 

Spending and home prices are up, but not enough to help jobs

Nov 24, 09 9:29 AM CST
(Newser) - The government’s optimistic reading of GDP growth in the 3rd quarter was distorted by a pair of rose-tinted glasses, it now says. The Commerce Department has revised its estimate down to 2.8% from 3.5% on evidence that stimulus programs like Cash for Clunkers and the homebuyers' tax... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • unemployment • consumer spending • GDP • Department of Commerce • predictions • economic stimulus package • US gross domestic product

34.5% unemployment

Young Black Men Hit Hardest By Recession

Demographic's unemployment reaches Depression-era levels

Nov 24, 09 6:21 AM CST
(Newser) - The recession has sent the unemployment rate among young black men soaring to rates not seen since the Great Depression. The jobless rate among black males aged 16 to 24 hit 34.5% last month, more than triple the rate for the general population. The demographic has been especially hit... More »

MORE ABOUT:
discrimination • recession • unemployment • African-Americans • recession depression • unemployment rate

 Gold Mine Scamster
Rips Off Couple for $5M

Fraudster spent elderly couple's cash on oxygen chamber

Nov 24, 09 1:47 AM CST
(Newser) - A California man who claimed to have a new way of extracting gold from old mines has been busted for bilking a couple in their '80s out of nearly $5 million. John Arthur Walthall blew the couple's cash on cars, alimony, film school fees for his son, and a $60,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fraud • scam • Orange County • gold mine • John Arthur Walthall

134 Stories


How to size up work-at-home offers
KEPR


US  •  Business  •  Crime & Courts 
TwitterFollow @NewserUS on Twitter

 
online fraud • fraud • recession • scam • unemployment • job search

from our news partners