GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – As graduates begin to search for their entrance to the workforce, they face more obstacles than just trying to find a job during a global pandemic.
Employment scams are the top reported scams for people in the 18-25 age range. Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau says to be cautious of offers that seem to good to be true.
“Jobs that require very little training, or are much higher paid than a typical entry level job, that’s how the scammers will draw people in,” Bach tells WTAQ News, “They’re going to ask you for personal information before you even have an accepted job offer, they might ask for you to purchase things with a check that turns out to be counterfeit.”
Another common scam targeting new hires – fake apartment listings. Almost half of people searching for rentals online have seen one.
“Scammers just like to copy the photos and descriptions of real properties and then post them online and defer the rent and the deposit to them instead of the legitimate property,” Bach says, “Watch out for that red flag of a great apartment, trendy neighborhood – but at a low, low price. That’s probably a scam. Make sure you know the going rate for an apartment before you do any online searches.”
Student loan forgiveness scams also focus on recent grads, offering deals to help cut down the payments.
“There are such things as student loan forgiveness but only under very strict guidelines and only after a history of you making timely student loan payments…If anybody reaches out to you with an offer to forgive your student loan, research that opportunity and that company very well before you give them any money,” Bach says, “The best source for finding student loan information, whether you qualify for loan forgiveness, things like that – are at government websites like ed.gov or studentaid.gov.”
