Thus, just when you think you have signed up for a legitimate job, upon further research, you realize that the job listing was not at all what it claimed to be. Moreover, there is probably a metaphorical fine-print “but” after that statement, as in, “You’ll get this and this, ‘BUT’ you’ll have to do this first and sign up for this.” If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You’ve probably come across at least a few of those “too good to be true ”ads that offer free money right away and other benefits at no cost or hassle to you, even if you have no previous work experience. Since your resume provides information about you such as your name, school, email address, home address and your phone number, thieves can use this information to steal your money and your identity. Do Due Diligence Before Sending Your Resumeĭon’t send your resume right away unless you have verified that the job offer is real. With a separate email account, “employers” who could potentially be fake will not be able to use your more widely-used email account to spam you or steal your identity. It’s a good idea to set up a specific email account for your Craigslist applications. In other cases, you can click on a potential job listing and find that it turns out to be an ad for something. Perhaps when you email the company to show your interest and request more information, you discover the post is spam or someone running a scam. Sometimes these job listings pose little imminent harm to you, but are nonetheless not real listings. They can directly use your information for themselves as a form of identity theft and/or they can sell your identity to buyers.īe careful too when clicking links in suspicious or too-good-to-be-true ads as you could end up spreading viruses to your computer. If you haven’t even interviewed for the job or haven’t secured the job yet, there should be no reason why you are handing a stranger your personal information. Protect Your Financial InformationĪnyone asking for credit card information or personal information straight off the bat cannot be trusted. These posts might have slightly altered copy, but their content will be basically the same, as will their contact information. On the other hand, you should be wary of a job listing that stays up too long or is posted repeatedly.Ī listing that goes up every day, or even multiple times a day, during the week raises major red flags. The simplest and most common explanation is that the position has been filled and the poster never got around to deleting it. If a business does not find the perfect candidate right away and leaves the listing up for a long time, there may be a reason why no one has landed the position.Ī listing that lasts too long on Craigslist could mean multiple things. Usually, if a decent-paying job is posted on Craigslist, there will be numerous, immediate responses, which means listings are often taken down within a week or two of being posted. There are always people on Craigslist looking for jobs – it has become a highly popular go-to spot for job seekers to supplement in-person job hunting and resume outreach. If something about a business listing is making you question the authenticity, you should really listen to your gut instinct - the first reaction you have when you look at a post shouldn’t be a spine-tingling, hair-raising, questioning doubt.īelow are some tips to help you spot shady job listings on Craigslist – and avoid wasting your time or putting yourself or your personal information at risk. You should approach Craigslist job listings with a similarly cynical eye. You know enough to look out for weirdos and predators. You have likely already heard a lot about the dangers of Craigslist in terms of responding to personal classified ads. How do you know if a Craigslist job listing is a good lead or too good to be true? Guest writer, Marcela De Vivo has 10 tips to help you evaluate the opportunities and avoid the con artists. However, you can also find plenty of scammers on Craigslist.
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