Identifying Fraudulent Job Postings

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The Georgia Tech Career Center strives to review all employers and job postings in CareerBuzz to confirm their legitimacy. Occasionally, scammers create postings that are difficult to spot or may send direct inquiries to you through email.  The information provided below is to help you identify fraudulent postings and avoid falling victim to these types of scams.

To recognize if a job is fraudulent, look for some of these warning signs:

 

Financial information inquiries and large sum payments
  • Requests for your credit card or bank account numbers, or copies of personal documents.
  • Requests to send payment by wire service or courier.
  • Offers of a large payment or reward in exchange for allowing the use of your bank account - often for depositing checks or transferring money.
  • Delivery of an unexpectedly large check.
  • Requirements to make an initial investment, such as a payment by wire service or courier.

 

Quick and vague job offers
  • The employer conducts interviews online or over the phone, and an offer is given almost immediately.
  • The employer contacts you by phone, but there is no way to call them back (the number is not available).
  • The employer tells you that they do not have an office set up in your area and will need you to help them get it up and running.

 

Questionable job descriptions and contact information
  • Job descriptions that include many spelling and grammatical errors.
  • The posting appears to come from a legitimate company or organization, but the contact's e-mail address doesn't match the company's website domain (i.e., jdoe@gmail.com rather than jdoe@companyname.com) or the company’s website domain is misspelled (e.g. jdoe@microsft.com)
 
What to do if Caught in a Scam
  • Contact GT Police at 404-894-2500
  • Contact the Career Center by calling 404-894-3320 or email us at careercenter@gatech.edu, so the posting can be removed and other students can be notified
  • End all communication with the employer
  • Notify your bank or credit card company regarding any fraudulent activity IMMEDIATELY

We want to ensure a safe environment for students to conduct a job search.  Please contact the Career Center if you have any questions or concerns about job postings.