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Career Services

Fraudulent Employers & Job Postings

Finding a job can be difficult. It can be more difficult when you have to worry if a company is trying to scam you. Most employers and job postings are legitimate. However, there are some situations that you need to avoid. Check out the list below to help you determine if the job posting or the employer that you’re interested in is right for you.

Forward suspicious emails or suspected emails to emailabuse@utoledo.edu. 

SIGNS OF JOB/ EMPLOYER FRAUD

  • The employer emailed you without you prompting them to do so.

Employers can initiate conversations with you via LinkedIn, Handshake, and other platforms. However, in those cases, the job posting sites information and logos will be indicated graphically in the header and/or footer of the email message.

  • You’re asked to pay money or provide your bank account information as a part of applying for the position.
  • The employer has an email domain that doesn’t match the company’s website domain name (Company: FedEx.com, Employer Email: Jonh@hotmail.com) or the employer uses a common email domain: @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, @live.com, @yahoo.com
  • The contact person’s email address domain is slightly different from what it should be (Mary@ boarders.com vs. mary@boardirs.com)
  • You’re asked to deposit any amount of money into your bank account and write checks to mail to other individuals
  • You’re offered a job almost immediately after your entire interaction with the employer has been online
  • Your compensations for a minimal amount of work seems to be too good to be true (receive mail or packages then mail them to others for $500.00 for each package mailed)
  • You receive a recruiter phone call from an unknown or blocked phone number or a call from a different city, state, or remote foreign country than what is indicated on the company website or job posting
  • The salary range for the position is really wide ($30,000 - $80,000), or the salary is drastically above other similar positions
  • The employer states that they’re contacting you via your information in Handshake, but you see no indication of Handshake in the header or footer of the email message
  • The posting or email has multiple spelling a grammatical errors

 

WAYS TO INVESTIGATE A JOB POSTING OR COMPANY

  • Search the company’s address in Google Maps – If the company’s location is in a residential neighborhood for no reason (small family-owned construction business), please consider another position.
  • Pay close attention to the company’s web address and contacts email addresses. The website and the email domain should be spelled correctly and matching. (Website: www.google.com, Email Address: ctest@google.com )
  • Search the company’s name + scam (TAKadvanofu.com Scam). If you see multiple articles, forum posts, and scam reports about a company’s bad reputation, please stay away.
  • Search for the company and recruiter on LinkedIn to rule out any suspicious activity and accounts. A reputable company and recruiter should have a robust LinkedIn and or other social media accounts clearly displaying positive, realistic communication of the company.
  • Ask your professor or someone in the Career Services office. We will be happy to help you verify the authenticity of a position or employer. 

 

WAY TO STAY SAFE

  • Use Handshake, Indeed, and other reputable job posting sites. There is no guarantee that these sites are scam free, however reputable sites like the UToledo provided Handshake has several people behind the scenes that care about your safety
  • Do not provide bank account information or other sensitive personal information to employers without meeting in person, speaking on the phone, or signing an acceptance letter for a position that you applied.
  • If you’re suspicious of a company, please contact Career Services at 419-530-4341 or careerservices@utoledo.edu to help you in researching an employer.
  • Do not respond to any job posting that you receive without prompting
  • Check out the UToledo’s IT website for details about Phishing. Job posting scams are very similar to Phishing scams https://www.utoledo.edu/it/security/Awareness/Phishing.html

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A SCAM/ SCAMMER

If you have received a suspicious email to your University of Toledo email account ( ____@rockets.utoledo.edu)

  • Contact  Career Services immediately to report the incident at careerservices@utoledo.edu or (419) 530-4341. Please have documentation of your initial interaction and well as any additional information.
  • Next, forward suspicious emails or suspected emails to emailabuse@utoledo.edu 

If you have received a suspicious email to your personal email account

If you have received a check and you received the initial email to your University of Toledo email account ( ____@rockets.utoledo.edu)

  • Contact  Career Services immediately to report the incident at careerservices@utoledo.edu or (419) 530-4341. Please have documentation of your initial interaction and well as any additional information.
  • Forward suspicious emails or suspected emails to emailabuse@utoledo.edu
  • Notify the UToledo Campus Police if you have received a check or provided personal account/ identification information to a suspicious employer.

If you have received a check and you received the initial email to your personal email account

  • Contact  Career Services immediately to report the incident at careerservices@utoledo.edu or (419) 530-4341. Please have documentation of your initial interaction and well as any additional information.
  • Next, contact the police department in the area of your permanent address.
  • You may also consider filing a report with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and/ or the Federal Trade Commission depending on the issue. You can find additional information here: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/on-the-internet   and   https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1
Last Updated: 4/13/23