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After more than a year of pandemic-related devastating losses — including job losses – you may be one of millions looking to get back on your feet with a new job. This Financial Literacy Month, as always, the FTC wants to help keep you on track with ways to avoid job scams.

Scammers post ads online or in print for a variety of jobs, including work-at-home jobs. They sometimes even pretend to represent well-known companies or the government. But these ads are really just tricks to get your money or personal information. Here’s how to protect yourself:

  • Never respond to ads guaranteeing you’ll get a job. Even if your qualifications are ideal, it’s never a sure thing that you’ll get the job.
  • Avoid work-at-home ads guaranteeing you’ll make big money. No one can predict how much money you’ll actually make working for yourself.
  • Never pay to get a job. Scammers may say they have a job waiting if you just pay a fee for certification, training, equipment, or supplies. But, after you pay, you find out the job is fake — and you won’t get your money back.
  • Don’t bank on a “cleared” check. No legitimate company will ever send you a check and then tell you to send on part of that money, or gift cards. It’s a scam: that check is a fake and you’ll lose your money.
  • Don’t believe ads for "previously undisclosed" federal government jobs. Information about federal jobs is publicly available at usajobs.gov.
  • Research potential employers. Search online for a company’s name, email address, and phone number. If you’ve heard of the company, look on its website, call, or email to find out if the job is real.
  • Find legitimate job listings. Try visiting sites like your state’s Career OneStop.

Learn more about spotting and avoiding job scams. And if you experience this or other scams, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Mike
April 12, 2021
More people need to know this information to avoid scams
Rainbow
April 30, 2021
I am scared of everything even to put my birthday I put something else don't put real name because I have been scammed with my name address jobs sites money games checks banks never had a bank in my life I think everything is a scam I have never felt like I can't be myself with my life bought a new phone changed my email they still got my identy stolen again and my password so I don't know what to do to stay protected on my phone