It’s back to school season, and for many, it is back to work season. When the kids go back to school, many of us look for a new professional challenge or side hustle and while those opportunities can be great for our bottom line they can also be openings for criminal scammers.
Here are two things for job seekers to be on the lookout for:
FAKE JOB SCAMS
Beware of any job that offers a large income with little to no training or experience. Business offers that are guaranteed to “pay off quickly” or “double your investment” are also highly suspicious. Lastly, avoid any job offer which requires you to pay in advance for certification, training or materials.
Many of these employment scams are advertised as “work from home” which is particularly dangerous with so many people looking for these opportunities. Before accepting any work from home position, do your homework and ensure that the company you are agreeing to work for is indeed a legitimate one.
"Beware of any job that offers a large income with little to no training or experience."
TECH SUPPORT
With the growth of remote work exploding home internet and access to a working device are critical for job seekers. Unfortunately, that need for a functioning device could make someone more vulnerable to a tech support scam.
These scams start with an unsolicited phone call or a pop-up alert on your device, claiming to be from Microsoft, Norton, or another related company warning of grave problems. The goal is to persuade you to allow them to remotely connect with your device where they can convince you they find something terrible. They are actually seeking to install malware to harvest personal information and logins, creating ways to get back into your device or convincing you to pay for expensive repair and protection – all of which if fake.
Bottom line, the urgent phone call or popup message is a sham. Don’t answer (or hang up immediately if you do), and to rid your screen of the message, exit out of your browser, power down your device or do a hard shut down. Keeping your operating systems and security software up to date is an important way to keep real viruses and malware out.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
And make sure to tune into AARP Live on RFD-TV the third Thursday of every month for “Rural America Live – With AARP.”