In continuation of Operation Protect Veterans, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and AARP are letting Veterans know about scams aimed specifically at military men and women. This article covers two schemes in which the scammer is offering something that should be free of charge, but can end up costing the victim everything.
The Job Offer Scam
Postal Inspectors investigate and pursue two basic types of criminals: those who take something out of the mail, and those who put something illegal into the mail. Similarly, most mail scams fall into one of two categories. Either the scammer is asking the victim for something (such as the fake charity scam we covered in our last article), or the scammer is offering to give the victim something of value (for a small fee, of course). One of the most prolific and damaging of these schemes is the “job offer scam.”
Complaints about job opportunity fraud are on the rise. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of business and job opportunity complaints from former and active military members nearly doubled between 2016 and 2017. Veterans looking for work are especially vulnerable to hiring scams, and their activity and public profiles on legitimate job search sites can attract the attention of fake job recruiters and other con artists.
Unfortunately, some “recruiters” may only be interested in acquiring your hard-earned money or personal information. Some red flags to look for: If the recruiter asks for an upfront fee to cover training and equipment costs,
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