As more people join the ranks of those actively seeking employment, activity on online job boards increases. These can be great places to land a job (although competition is fierce) but, increasingly the scam artists are targeting them too.

Work from home scams, investment scams and the like are nothing new. However now they are showing up alongside legitimate job offers on sites like Monster and Yahoo and it can be hard to spot them at first.

Some job seekers assume that these big job boards vet all the employment offerings that are posted on their site but that is simply not the case, so it is up to the individual to figure out which ones are not legitimate.

The old adage “if it looks too good to be true it probably is” definitely applies here. “Work from home receptionist” with $20 – $25/hr pay. If this was legitimate I’m sure a lot of us would quit our jobs to become work at home receptionists.  Scammers may ask for money, social security numbers, or offer jobs such as check cashing. A woman in Pennsylvania had been a victim of a check cashing scam and is still living a nightmare. Read about her story here.


Online job applications are becoming commonplace, as they save time and money for both employer and applicant. Complete them with caution though.  Sensitive information like your address and especially your social security number can be a real score for scam artists. If a posting looks fishy report it to the administrators of the website or job board to investigate it further. Again, if it looks too good to be true it most likely is a job board scam.