Over the years, scammers have become more sophisticated in their phishing attempts, promoting job and internship opportunities that appear legitimate and trustworthy.
To avoid falling victim to one of these schemes, review the tips below along with the guidance in our Identifying Scam & Fraudulent Job Postings resource and UW-IT’s Employment Scams Targeting Students.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
Financial Requirements – You are asked to…
- Send money as a condition of application or employment.
- Provide credit card or bank account numbers.
- Cash checks, wire or transfer money, or utilize your bank account to deposit checks or transfer money.
- Purchase a computer or other equipment from a specific website using personal funds.
- Purchase and send gift cards or other items as a condition of application or employment.
Personal Information – You are asked to…
- Provide copies of personal documents.
- Provide your Social Security Number.
Communication – You may…
- Be contacted via email, text, phone, social media, etc.
- Be asked to use/switch to a generic email address (gmail, outlook, hotmail) rather than your @uw.edu address.
- Receive a job offer from a trusted email address, such as an @uw.edu email address; do not immediately trust an employment offer in your inbox.
- Receive an offer from a spoofed email address from a company’s real human resources employees to make the offer appear more legitimate.
- Receive a personalized text or call that appears to be professional and legitimate.
The Job Description/Offer– Be wary of…
- The promise of a large salary for very little work.
- Poor spelling and grammar.
- Remote jobs – while virtual jobs are not uncommon, receiving an offer through your email for a job working from home should prompt some further research.
- Legitimate-looking job offer letter and onboarding schedule – this does not guarantee legitimacy.
**If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!**
Do your homework and be sure to research any job opportunity or employer that interests you. Pay attention to anything that seems ‘off’ and follow your instincts!
WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK SOMETHING MIGHT BE A SCAM
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has published a few of the the following tips in their guidance for avoiding a job scam. Before you accept a job offer, and certainly before you pay for one, take these steps to protect yourself from job scams:
Do an online search
- Look up the name of the company or the person who’s hiring you, plus the words “scam,” “review,” or “complaint.” You might find out they’ve scammed other people.
- Research the company via sites such as the Better Business Bureau.
Talk to someone you trust
- Describe the offer to them. What do they think? This also helps give you vital time to think about the offer.
- Run the offer by us in the Career & Internship Center – askcic@uw.edu or 206-543-0535.
Don’t pay for the promise of a job or bank on a “cleared check”
- Legitimate employers, including the federal government, will never ask you to pay to get a job. Anyone who does is a scammer.
- No legitimate potential employer will ever send you a check and then tell you to send part of the money to someone else or buy gift cards with it. That’s a fake check scam. The check will bounce, and the bank will want you to repay the amount of the fake check.
If the communication happened on Handshake, contact us:
- If an employer reached out to you though Handshake, and the fraudulent position is listed there, please contact us at handshake@uw.edu so we can investigate.
Report the Scam to UW-IT
- Help UW combat scammers by reporting the phishing scam for investigation.
- Email UW-IT at help@uw.edu stating that you believe the email came from a scammer. Include the original email as an attachment.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU SHARED PERSONAL OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION
- Contact police immediately – either UWPD (uwpolice@uw.edu or 206-685-8973) or the non-emergency number for your local police.
- Contact your bank and/or credit card company immediately to close the account and dispute the charges.
- If the incident occurred completely over the internet, file an incident report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center or with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Resources from UW-IT
Employment Scams Targeting Students
Phishing Examples and Best Practices
Identity Theft Best Practices
Resource from the Career & Internship Center
Identifying Scam & Fraudulent Job Postings
Have questions or concerns? Contact us at askcic@uw.edu! We’re happy to take a look at an opportunity for you.
