Beware of online job scams

In these tough economic times, many of us are looking for work to make ends meet. The Internet is great global marketplace for different types of work which can be done at home: freelance writing, editing, data entry, blogging, forum posting, home-based call center, and a lot more. Isn’t it great – to avoid office environment and wear your pajamas as a uniform? 

The Internet is very convenient for job hunting because you can find vacancies in different parts of the country and even the world! You new employer can be from the USA, Canada, France or Hungary. However, the same feature makes the Internet a very effective tool for fraudulent activity. That’s why looking for decent project jobs online, you can become a victim of scammers. 

Increasing unemployment makes job hunters more and more desperate. If you have been out of work for a long time, you can be ready for almost any work! It can make you lose the common sense. Scammers are capitalizing on job seekers’ desperation. Beware of online job scams in order to protect yourself and your money! 
One of the most frustrating things for any job hunter is to take the time to apply for a job and then find out that it was just a scam. It can lower your self-confidence and lead to depressions. If you don’t want to waste a lot of your energy on an application for nothing, take into consideration the following popular online job scams. 

The payment-forwarding or payment-transfer scam
Payment-transfer scams, also called the payment-forwarding scams, involve a con artist who pretends to be an employer. He offers high wages for transferring, forwarding or wiring money from your personal bank account or PayPal account. The other account is often overseas. For example, a company in Eastern Europe can ask you to use your PayPal account for transferring money because this service is unavailable in their country.
Such con artists can be very convincing. They may steal company names and corporate logos to make victims believe that they are a legitimate business owner. The job hunter is instructed to keep a portion of the money he or she needs to transfer as a payment – it can be as high as several hundred or thousand dollars. Tempting bait, right?
The reality is not so nice. Typically, this money is stolen. That’s why people are committing theft and wire fraud. You can even be imprisoned for this crime! The con artist can also trick you into revealing your PayPal account and PINs. After that, as you understand, they can access your account and withdraw all your money. 
If you want to avoid the payment-forwarding scam, keep in mind that there is no job sitting at home, receiving money and sending it to other accounts. People like to think it is possible, and that’s why this type of scam is so successful.

Identity theft 
Scammers often create phony job ads to make job seekers reveal their personal or financial information. Similar to the previous scam, they steal company names and logos to pretend that they are legitimate business owners hiring for a job. 
During the job application process, the scammer says that it is necessary to attach a copy of your driver’s license or passport to e-mail to "verify" your identity. Or, the scammer can ask you to state your SSN for “future tax purposes”. Be careful: if somebody hasn’t hired you yet, he definitely doesn’t need your social security number. This information will be used to commit identity theft!
There is another way to trick you into revealing your personal information: online surveys which offer to earn money while working a couple of hours at home. Some of such websites are just scams. Typically, you need to enter a lot of your personal information in order to determine what surveys match your lifestyle and background. Try to avoid such survey sites if you are not 100% sure about their reliability.
Similarly, don't give away your credit card numbers. If you want to receive a direct deposit after you have done the work, that's up to you. However, it is better to use PayPal to receive money. This way, the scammers won’t be able to use your credit card numbers to make purchases online. 

The free samples scam
If you are an experienced freelance writer or a translator, you are likely to know how this scam works. A client asks several people for a free sample to determine the best employee to hire. However, they are not planning to hire anybody. This is a way to get articles or translations without paying a dime for work. 
There are several ways how scammers involve people in this fraud. For example, they can ask for a free sample in exchange for bulk work in the future. So be careful if you see such ads: “We need over 500 articles for our website. You need to send us 1 sample article (about 1000 words) for its validation. The sample article should pass copyscape. If we like your work, we will hire you for writing 500 articles.”
Don’t think that each employer asking for trial works is a scammer. It a common practice to evaluate your skills. However, most companies are usually content with your existing samples. In some cases you can be required to write about 500 words on some general topic relevant to the job or translate several paragraphs from different texts. 
Be careful if a job ad or e-mail requests a very specific writing sample or a large volume of translation (3-5 pages). There is a good chance that your client wants you to do the work for free. When they receive it, they can say something like “There were too many mistakes” or just disappear.
What to do if someone asks you to provide sample work? You can offer to translate a couple of the first paragraphs. It is enough to evaluate your translation skills. Or you can write a sample article and post it on your blog. Even though you will not be hired, you have spent time to promote yourself! 

The urgent work scam
As the name suggests, a client asks to do some work as soon as possible and offers to pay later – in a couple of days. It can happen to anyone - freelance writers, translators, editors, bloggers, forum posters, etc. The ads can look innocent, for example “an overworked freelancer is looking for qualified writers to ease the workload.” However, when you complete the work, you won’t get paid. 
It is worth mentioning that sometimes scammers do pay for work. Once, in the very beginning. For example, they can promise to send you the payment in installments, a set sum for every portion of the work. The first payment is made on time and you can feel that everything is ok and continue to work. The next few payments get delayed under various pretences. When the work is completed, you will get nothing. 
How to avoid this type of scam? Always ask for a deposit! It is common practice to ask for at least one third of the payment in advance, especially if you haven't worked with a client before and you are required to do a large volume of work. If your client has problems with making a deposit, think twice before starting to work.

The “wait for better rates” scam
This type of a scam involves a client who tries to persuade you to make a lot of work for a very small payment. They can tell you something like ‘We have got plenty of work and you will get a better rate later’. For example, they can offer you to write 100 articles for $100 and promise a better-paid work after that. As you understand, it will never happen. Next time they will hire another employee for the same small amount.
If you are looking for work because you're short of money, it can be easy to believe promises that you read online. However, be careful and use your common sense. If you don’t like the amount of payment, then don’t start working. The current financial environment makes people lower their payment expectations, but it doesn’t mean that you need to work nearly for free. You are not a charity, right?

Earning with spam posts
Job hunters are often offered to post ads on online bulletin boards and forums. On the one hand, writing posts can seem to be viable work. It is not difficult, especially if you like browsing forums and opening new threads. 
On the other hand, this work is typically just a form of spam. You will need to use specific hyperlinks to create posts. It is possible to earn money (a very small amount of money) for writing spam posts, but you will need to spend a lot of time – moderators don’t sleep! And keep in mind that spamming is not the job you can write in your resume or portfolio. 

Avoid job scams
•    Think twice
If a job ad sounds too good to be true, you can be sure it is a scam! Avoid offers that guarantee you wealth and financial success in the nearest future – “Work from home part time and earn $10K a month”. Nobody will pay thousands of dollars per week for little work and no experience! Legitimate ads make an emphasis on the job, not on how much money you can earn quickly.
•    Hang on to your money
Some companies may charge the upfront joining fees for online data entry and ad posting jobs. Or you will need to pay for the opportunity to get well-paid work. Never, never send your money for work! Legitimate businesses will not ask an employee to pay for training or information packets. They pay you, not the other way around! 
•    Find contact information
Carefully evaluate contact information in job ads or related e-mails. Are they real? For example, an e-mail address may not feature the company's name. Remember, companies can be very creative about how they advertise their opportunities because they want you to think that they are a legitimate business. 
You can verify a prospective employer or recruiter through the Better Business Bureau or a phone book, and then contact them directly. A lack of a phone number, contact information, a written contract detailing payment, hours and job expectations are red flags. Are you sure that the job is not a scam?
•    Do your own research. 
Use the Internet and searching engines to find out more information about your prospective employer. For example, you can google their e-mail or name and find out that they have posted dozens of similar ads on all job websites. Or you can find out that your new client hasn’t paid to several people and they don’t recommend working with him.  
•    Check References
If you are not sure about the company's legitimacy, you can also ask for references. Request a list of employees or contractors to find out necessary information. If the company doesn’t want to provide references (names, email addresses or phone numbers), then do not consider this job opportunity. 
•    Get everything in writing 
Make sure that you have a written contract detailing payment and working hours. If you have the terms spelled out in a legally binding document, then you have fewer chances to work with someone who is not going to pay you for work.
If you are signing a client's contract, check that it clearly spells out when you will be paid. If the terms state you will be "paid on publication" then you need to find out when your work will be published. 

The final note 
Don’t think that there’s a scammer around every corner! Luckily, it is not so. The publishers might have rejected your services just because they didn’t like your style, and not because they didn’t want to pay you for your trial article!
Yes, some part of employers is scammers. Dishonest people can be met everywhere, including the Internet. With a bit of care, you can avoid most of online job scams. Listen to your intuition and use some common sense!