How to spot scams with a growing number of Americans on the job hunt

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- U.S. employers cut more jobs last month than any February since 2009. That means a growing number of Americans are back on the job hunt, and if you're one of them, you need to be extra careful.

This is National Consumer Protection Week, so we started digging through the numbers and here's what really caught our attention: Job scams are huge - costing victims as much as $450 million in one year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

"My job brings in about 75% of our household income. With two small children, one still in daycare, we have a lot of childcare expenses. So not a lot of savings," said Ruth Garfinkel.

Garfinkel, who worked for a USAID contractor, is back on the job hunt. So is James Diaz, a veteran.

"Well, I have a pretty good resume and I got my college education after 50. I worked in factory leadership," he said.

But in these uncertain times as many Americans search for new positions, remote work is increasingly attractive, allowing them to expand their options and have some flexibility.

But there is a warning.

"You know, I always tell people it's much easier to scam someone if you never have to meet them in person," said Keith Spencer a career expert at FlexJobs.

Bogus job scams aim to:

• Entice you to provide your personal, financial information
• Click on a malicious link to download malware onto your computer
• Or require you to pay an upfront fee to apply or pay for training or equipment

"Recouping your losses from a scam is often very, very difficult," he said.

There are red flags to keep in mind.

"There's an overwhelming sense of urgency like they're trying to convince you to act fast or kind of rush you through the process," said Spencer.

Also, be suspicious if no one from the company will meet with you or even do a video call. And beware: some scammers are setting up bogus accounts on LinkedIn, often impersonating others, using pictures of real people, so do an internet search of profile photos.

"Research companies, research recruiters try to verify," said Spencer.

Contact the supposed company directly and stay away from any offer that seems too good to be true.

"If you're seeing an opportunity that promises a lot of pay for a small amount of work that should kind of set off your alarm bells," said Spencer.

A scammer messaged me on LinkedIn, claiming to be with an AI company. he problem was the profile picture the scammer used was a photo of someone I happen to know. The con artist targeted the wrong two people.

Meantime, the Better Business Bureau has a scam tracker where you can search to see if something is a possible scam.