Rockford BBB Warns of Employment Scams

Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures, but if a "potential employer" wants money from you before you start, consider that a red flag.

That's the word from the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Director, Dennis Horton:

The Employment Scams Report examines findings from an April 2020 survey of 10,670 U.S. and Canadian consumers reporting employment scams to BBB Scam Tracker. One surprising result is that sixty-five percent of consumers reported that their “job offer” was related to becoming a “warehouse redistribution coordinator” or some similar titles involving the reshipment of packages (which often include stolen goods). In many cases, these scammers impersonated well-known retailers like Amazon and Walmart to seem legitimate, posting jobs on major online employment platforms with few prerequisites or requirements.

During our interview on the WROK Morning Show, Dennis Horton went on to explain that students and individuals ages 25-34 were more susceptible and likely to be victimized, while those ages 45-54 and 65+ reported higher median dollar losses. In addition, military spouses and veterans were more likely to fall victim than non-military consumers, and reported losing significantly more money to employment scams.

If you know someone who would be a likely target, share this information with them. Survey results reinforced that consumer education is a critical component of fighting back against these scammers. Those who avoided losing money were much more likely to report previous knowledge of employment scams and tactics (20% versus 7%).