Influencers: Spot a job scam

Hi Amanda,

It is safer to go through an agency and in my experience, the hiring firm pays the agency’s fee.
Many agency’s have temporary positions as well as permanent ones available. If you start as a temp, you can get a feel for the employer while they evaluate you. You can make good connections even if you only stay for a short-term position. Some positions are “temp to perm” and others are for a stated time period. Agencies often have some training available and they work to help you get into a job. Temp jobs can be a great way to get a job fast.

Many agencies are private companies, some may specialize in certain fields like accounting, for example. Your state may have an employment agency — possibly at the same location as your local unemployment office.

Another thing to look for is adult education in your community. There are many inexpensive and short courses given at local schools at night or on the weekend. You may find one to help with resume writing and job search tools. Some classes may only meet 1-5 times for a couple of hours. Your local library may have the information you need, or your town administrative office. It definitely helps if prospective employers see that you have taken the initiative to prepare for your job search.

One more idea . . . take a Civil Service Test (Barnes & Noble bookstore might have a study guide) and apply for Post Office and other government jobs. USAjobs.gov can give you more information. The government benefits are well worth the effort!

Best of luck!

I had the same thing that happened to Amanda happened to me I received a phone call also and communicated with these people through our app called Signal. They wanted me to be hired as a data entry person starting pay at $36 an hour for a well-known Health Care Agency after I looked up if there were jobs for this agency, doing data entry from home remote work, I saw there were some, but there was no number I could call to see if this was real. I did follow along for a little while not knowing for sure if it was a scam or not because I was looking for a job that was exactly like this I was hoping it was real. I did Receiver call from them saying I could get started training if I get the timekeeping machine they asked me to put out $500 and that it would be reimbursed to me right away. I knew it probably was a scam. They also told me they were sending me a check in the mail and sent me the tracking number to the envelope , I did put out the $500 like an idiot when I receive the check and saw it it looked fake to me that’s when I stopped communicating with them and realize that I just lost $500. It was worth it to me to not get scammed into them , taking my money from my bank they didn’t have any of my personal information other than my address and name. I think they should be hunted down and locked up. Everything that was done was done in this country not overseas I have the envelope from where the check was mailed and it was mailed to North Dakota, etc. , someone should help us in the federal government.

It isn’t so easy. Many of these scammers are operating in foreign countries. They have elaborate schemes, so people need to be informed and not communicate with anyone they don’t know. If it looks like your bank is calling, let it go to voicemail. If it is legitimate, they will leave a message and then you can contact your bank using the number on your credit/debit card or look up the main number for the bank. Remember that scammers are able to make t look like they are calling from any number they choose — never trust caller ID.