CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 'Tis the season when people want to be home for the holidays, and when it comes to work, they are logging on from home instead of going to the office. These kinds of jobs are more appealing these days, and scammers are trying to take advantage of that perfect job scenario.
SOURCES:
WHAT WE FOUND:
A Pew Research Center study this year found 35% of people who can do their job remotely are working remotely all the time.
To find these jobs, many people take to websites that showcase job openings, but some open positions are just too good to be true.
"Unfortunately, that's really opened a door for scammers," Bartholomy said.
Bartholomy said it works like any job posting: You apply, go through interviews, get the job, and that's where it starts.
"The next thing you know, you are saying, part of the hiring process, we need your social security number," Bartholomy said. "We need your bank routing number and your account number."
The Federal Trade Commission said nannies, caregivers, virtual personal assistants, and mystery shoppers are just some of the job listings scammers like to put out there.
The best thing to do to make sure a job listing is real is to do your research.
"Find that company name that they are claiming to be a part of, do a BBB search, do a Google search, and put 'slash scam'," Bartholomy said.
There are government websites that post legit job listings:
- USAJobs.gov — This is the federal government’s official site with job openings nationwide.
- CareerOneStop — Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop lists hundreds of thousands of jobs. It also links to employment and training programs in each state.
- USA.gov — Find local government websites, which list any open positions they may have on their websites.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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