Feeling hurt and embarrassed, but Beth Reuter is far from alone. She is one of dozens of people who have reported employment scams in Arizona so far this year.
After applying for a job online, Beth says an automated email asked her to download an app. While suspicious, she chalked it up to new norms in the remote workplace. But Toni Frana, career services manager with FlexJobs, warns apps are the latest scam tool to target job seekers.
“What has been identified as a new scam is getting people to share personal information through an app like this. And then a scammer can take that information and basically do whatever they want,” warns Frana.
But job hunting can be exhausting, so Beth remained optimistic. After downloading an app, she was immediately contacted by someone posing as a recruiter. However, Beth says the conversation got ‘weird’ so she turned to the internet. She searched the company, jobs, even the recruiter – they all checked out.
Then an email came asking for Beth’s direct deposit information before she even accepted a job. Beth says this confirmed her worst fears, “That’s when I knew this was a scam.”
Immediately deleting the app and blocking all contact, Beth reported the potential fraud to the Better Business Bureau.
“If you’re a little more desperate to get work, you can just leave things because you’re just hoping the situation works out for you,” she said.
One step Beth did not take, which Frana recommends, is calling a company’s Human Resource Department immediately to confirm the job position or the interview process.
See other ways to protect yourself and how scammers target job seekers here.
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