Scammers are targeting people looking for a new job

BALTIMORE — We’ve all been there, sifting through hundreds of job postings online.

We hope that the next application we submit will be the one that gets us our dream job.

Fraudsters are trying to take advantage of this hope.

Targeting people who have recently been released.

“It’s taking advantage of a pretty bad situation for people where they’re losing a primary role,” said Paul Keener, cybersecurity strategist at Guidepoint.

According to Keener, the cybersecurity strategist, scammers typically approach you through text messages or perhaps through LinkedIn direct messages.

“Imagine being a person who just got laid off, you got 30 minutes’ notice and you’re no longer part of that company, and then you get a text message saying, ‘Hey, we saw your LinkedIn profile and we’d like to ” I’m glad you applied for this position, just click here,” Keener said.

This is where the scam begins, now they are trying to get money out of you in different ways.

The most common is obtaining your personal information.

“They may ask you for things like your Social Security number and your date and place of birth,” Keener said.

Another option is to force you to pay a placement fee for placing you in a job that doesn’t exist.

“But that’s not how legal recruiting works,” Keener said.

Or delay you even longer by pretending that they are sending you money to set up a home office once you start working.

“They send you a check and say you’re getting everything you need to be productive at home, and then they send us the check back, and that’s check fraud,” Keener said.

In most cases, there is nothing you can do to get your money back.

If you discover that you have been a victim, you should contact your financial institution immediately.

And also report this to the local police and FBI.

“This is how they can deal with any type of widespread criminal activity: they can piece together all the patterns and then handcuff the bad guys,” Keener said.

Remember: Most legitimate jobs won’t contact you first via text message.

They won’t ask for your social or other banking-relevant information before they hire you, and worry about people sending you checks before you’ve even joined the team.