As job scams are on the rise, here's how to stay safe and avoid them

Fake job offers are one of the most prolific and fastest-growing scams in the United States, experts say.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, reports of job scams jumped 118% in 2023 from the year before, and that number is continuing to rise.

"When scammers are posting fake jobs, they're either trying to steal our identities or just honestly trying to steal money from us," said Chris Peltz with GuidePoint Security.

Peltz says in most scams, after a note of congratulations, you might be asked to pre-pay for job expenses like a laptop or travel which will supposedly be reimbursed later.

"Things like artificial intelligence allow scammers to write job postings that look more authentic and believable, and they're much easier to turn around," he explained.

Experts say applicants are not the only ones being scammed, businesses are as well.

"In those cases, a business thinks they're hiring an American citizen. They may have even done a background check. But these are stolen identities, and a foreign operative is pretending to be someone that's working here in the States," Peltz said.

To avoid being scammed, Peltz gave sound advice on what you can do to stay secure.

"The first is research. If a job sounds too good to be true, one way or the other, look into it," he said. "If you receive an offer to do an interview or see something on social media or LinkedIn, go directly to the company website to validate the company and the job opening."

Also, he said to be wary if the company asks for too much information, too soon.

"Does it sound right? Does it feel right? Are they asking for things like your social security number too early on? Those can be giant red flags for a job scam," Peltz explained.

Businesses should also investigate applicants.

"We not only do background checks, but things like these face-to-face conversations are harder to do for scammers," he said.

Lastly, beware that scammers use all platforms.

"It can be social media, LinkedIn, even email. Some scams come right to our phones with text messages," he noted.

So much of our information is online, so it's easy for scammers to customize the way they lure people.

It's a good idea to do an internet search on yourself periodically to see what information is out there.