Employment scams: students beware

Employment scams: students beware

3 June 2014 - Be aware of part-time work scams

Part-time work seekers are warned about employment scams doing the rounds. Scammers advertise jobs where legitimate employers do, such as online and in newspapers.

• Due to the nature of the job description, these part-time, work-from-home job advertisements are particularly appealing to students. To date for 2014, kiwis have lost $28 040 on these job scams. Last year the total was almost $50 000.

How it works

You see an ad in a spam email, or on a website banner, and it is just the kind of work you are looking for:

• working from home

• good rate of pay

• not much work.

Most of these are not real job offers. They are fronts or gateways for scams such as:

• money laundering

• pyramid schemes

• or upfront payment fraud - a scam which asks you to send money upfront for a product or 'reward' later.

Protect yourself from employment scams

• Look for employment through well-known recruitment websites or reputable recruitment agencies.

• Be suspicious of online ads promoting the opportunity to work at home - most of them are scams.

• Contact your bank if you have received money into your bank account that you believe to be illegal. If you have any problems, contact the Banking Ombudsman for guidance.

Report scams and keep updated

No matter how tempting these offers sound, remember if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

If you have been affected by a scam, please help us to warn others by reporting it on Scamwatch. Your personal details will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Visit our Facebook page and keep updated on scams doing the rounds in New Zealand

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