BBB warns of job scams amid holiday hiring

JACKSON, Tenn. — Holiday shopping can get expensive, and you may be looking to pick up a seasonal job to help pay the bills. However, not all job postings are as good as they seem.

Many companies and stores will hire some extra hands for the holidays as it is a busier time for almost everyone. Also, employees can sometimes want to have some extra cash on hand.

So you may find yourself online looking for a part time gig for the next few weeks.

Toddnetta Trice with the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South says we may need to slow down before we accept a job.

“You send over all of that information, and the next thing you know weeks go by, days go by, and you haven’t received anything,” Trice said. “You haven’t received a job. So in these cases it is more so of a phishing employment job offer.”

Another popular job is reshipping. Your so called employer will send you a package, then you are to send that package somewhere else. It seems very simple. Well, Trice says one West Tennessee man recently fell victim to this scam and almost got in big trouble.

“I literally had a West Tennessee man call me because he had been doing this job for about two weeks — well, two to three weeks. And on his second package, he decided to look [at] what was in it,” said Trice. “When he looked in that package that he was supposed to reship, over 20 credit cards with different names on them.”

So how can you be sure whether the company you are talking to is legit, or they are trying to scam you?

“Make sure you do your research for these jobs,” Trice said. “If it’s a company you’ve never heard of, read the reviews. If nothing is coming up on that company that you’re applying to or got a call back from, definitely some red flags there.”

Of course, you can always call the BBB to get some additional information on whether a company is legit or not.

These scams can steal your identity, have you do free work for them with no compensation, or even complete illegal jobs for them, so it is important to be very careful.

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