Beware of Scammers on the Internet
As more people work from home, scammers are everywhere
As more people are now working from home, beware of scammers that post fake job offers and opportunities.
Scammers are now everywhere — on Indeed, Linkedin, job boards, and freelancing companies. Freelancing sites such as Upwork and Freelancer are full of them. People who are in the freelancing business are especially vulnerable to such scams.
As everything is now online, you have to be on high alert and exercise vigilance. Be cautious of unknown people contacting you through e-mail or text messages. As scammers have gotten smarter, it isn’t always easy to spot their crimes, but they always leave some clues behind.
One of the most common scams to fall for is a fake check scam.
Here’s the scenario: The client is using a fake identity or impersonating a company. He contacts you via e-mail about a job offer. You start talking to them and they want to send you a check upfront and ask you to deposit into your bank account. They can even trick you into believing that you need to purchase or upgrade equipment with their check before you work for them. Don’t fall for this scam.
No legit company will ever send you or ask you to receive a check from them if you’ve never worked for them.
Recently one scammer contacted me via Proz.com, which is a freelance translating site. He identified himself as a freelance translator outsourcing work for clients in his company. He requested a translation of a document and sent me a document to be translated. The whole conversation was real.
I almost closed the deal with the client until he said he wants to send me a check for my service. That raised my suspicions right away and I asked some follow-up questions to which he responded evasively. I also did my research on fake check scams that helped to recognize it as a scam.
How fake check scam works
The person’s motive for sending you a check is for you to deposit it into your bank account and use your real money to send it back to them before their fake check is clear. Sometimes they intentionally send you a cashier’s check higher than the amount you asked for and ask you to send them back the difference. Whatever money you send will come straight from your account.
How can you identify a scammer?
Here are some clues
The client impersonates a company that doesn’t exist
The client wants to send you a fake check
The client uses a fake free Gmail or Hotmail address
The client uses a fake company logo
Their e-mails don’t sound professional and may have grammatical errors
For more information on the fake check scam, visit this website:
Takeaway
When you do business online, vet every client that approaches you with a job offer thoroughly. Do your research, ask follow-up questions. If a job offer sounds too good to be true, most likely it is. There will always be clues to help you recognize a scam.
