Avoiding Employment Fraud

Each semester, there has been a noticeable increase in companies targeting students for financial gain while posing as job offers.

The University Offices of Career Connections shares a helpful video about Fraudulent Job Offers from the Federal Trade Commission which is informative and may help you avoid being the victim of a scam.

REMEMBER, if something seems too good to be true, there's a strong possibility it is!
The University Offices of Career Connections & Walton Career Connections serve as a referral source for jobs and other opportunities and generally cannot make specific recommendations regarding off-campus employers. The Centers make no guarantees about the positions listed by the Centers.

While we expect employers to adhere to ethical standards, we are not able to research the integrity of each organization or individual that lists a job with us. Students and alumni are urged to ask good questions and use common sense when applying for any job or internship, particularly with respect to employment in a private home or other opportunities not affiliated with an established public or private sector organization. We strongly encourage you to research prospective employers using resources made available by the Career Centers, as well as other tools, such as the internet, to educate yourself about potential job/internship scams.

The Career Centers never share or sell student information to anyone. However, the UofA online directory, which is not affiliated with the Career Centers, is public and can be accessed by anyone, including potential scammers. If you are a current student and want to update or remove your student information from the UA campus directory, follow instructions provided by the UA Connect Help Center.

How the scam works:

Scammers post online job advertisements soliciting college students for administrative positions.
The student employee receives counterfeit checks in the mail or via e-mail and is instructed to deposit the checks into their personal checking account.
The scammer then directs the student to withdraw the funds from their checking account and send a portion, via wire transfer, to another individual. Often, the transfer of funds is to a "vendor", purportedly for equipment, materials, or software necessary for the job.
Subsequently, the checks are confirmed to be fraudulent by the bank.

Potential Consequences of participating in this scam:

Your bank account may be closed due to fraudulent activity and a report could be filed by the bank with a credit bureau or law enforcement agency.
You may be responsible for reimbursing the bank the amount of the counterfeit checks.
The scamming incident could adversely affect your credit record.
The scammers often obtain personal information from you while posing as your employer, leaving you vulnerable to identity theft.
Scammers seeking to acquire funds through fraudulent methods could potentially utilize the money to fund illicit criminal or terrorist activity.

Here are some good tips that the job is probably fraudulent:

The promise of a large salary for very little work - especially those that state thousands of dollars of income per month with little or no experience required.
Never accept a job that requires depositing checks into your account or wiring portions to other individuals or accounts, or send copies of personal documents.
Positions in which you are offered a large payment or reward in exchange for allowing the use of your bank account - often for depositing checks or transferring money.
Many of the scammers who send these messages are not native English speakers. Look for poor use of the English language in e-mails such as incorrect grammar, capitalization, and tenses.
While there are legitimate opportunities for individuals to work from home, be sure to research the position in advance of applying.

If you suspect a position is fraudulent, please contact the University Offices of Career Connections at 479.575.2805 or the Walton Career Connections office at 479.575.6100 right away. If you believe you are the victim of fraud resulting from a job listing, please contact the local (479-587-3555) and campus (479-575-2222) police as well. We also encourage all victims of email or internet scams to report them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation at www.ic3.gov.