ALERT - BP JOB SCAMS
Crooks are
creative and they tend to change their stories in response to the times.
At present there is a dangerous combination:
(1)
Unemployment is critically high and
(2) an
environmental disaster of unmatched magnitude has occurred -- the BP Oil Spill.
"We have a job
for you" scams are certainly not new; we've seen them for years. Stuffing
envelopes, cashing checks and more.
In the past few
months, however, hard-pressed individuals who are desperate for work are
responding to email and telephone solicitors offering oil clean up jobs along
the Gulf shores.
At the least,
victims are parting with their personal "Job Application" information -- making
them ripe targets for identity thieves. At the most, victims are parting with
ca$h to pay for background checks, "training" courses, job application fees, and
others co$ts allegedly required to obtain the promised employment.
BP IS NOT
CHARGING PEOPLE TO GO TO WORK FOR THEM.
If anyone
approaches YOU about a job and there are significant advanced fees required,
chances are that the "offer" is little more than an Advance Fee scam. (Note: We
are not talking about the kind of scenario like if Walmart of McDonalds requires
a Food Handlers Permit for you to be hired as a Deli or counter worker. We are
talking about other (generally much larger) "fees" that must be paid before you
get a job.)
Don't walk,
RUN, from these offers of employment.