Scams - Job and Employment Scams

Job and employment scams target people looking for a job. They often promise a lot of income—sometimes they even guarantee it—for little or no effort.

What to Look For

Work-from-home scams are often promoted through spam emails or advertisements online or in newspaper ads. Most of these advertisements are not real job offers. Many of them are fronts for illegal moneylaundering activity or pyramid schemes.

You might get an email offering a job where you use your bank account to receive and pass on payments for a foreign company. Or you might be offered a job as a "secret shopper" hired to test the services of a chequecashing or a money transfer company. Some "job offers" promise that you will receive a percentage commission for each payment you pass on. Sometimes, scammers are just after your bank account details so they can access your account. They might also send you a counterfeit cheque along with instructions for you to cash the cheque and transfer a portion of the sum over a money transfer service.

A guaranteed employment or income scam claims to guarantee you either a job or a certain level of income. The scammers usually contact you by spam email and the offers often involve the payment of an up-front fee for a "business plan", certain start-up materials or software.



There is a range of scams promoted as business opportunities. You may be required to make an upfront payment (for something that does not work or is not what you expected) or to recruit other people to the scheme (refer to pyramid schemes on page 4).

Protect Yourself

Remember
There are no shortcuts to wealth—the only people that make money are the scammers.

Caution
Never send your bank account or credit card details to anybody you do not know and trust. If you cash the cheque and it turns out to be counterfeit, you could be held accountable for the entire monetary loss by your bank.

Think
Don't make any decisions without carefully researching the offer. Seek independent advice before making a decision.

Investigate
Beware of products or schemes claiming to guarantee income and job offers requiring payment of an upfront fee or sending money through a money transfer service. Make sure any franchise business opportunity is legitimate.

Ask yourself
Did I get all the details in writing before paying or signing anything?

To report a scam, contact the:

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
www.antifraudcentre.ca or call 1-888-495-8501

In addition, credit bureaus can put a fraud alert on your account, which will alert lenders and creditors of potential fraud:

Equifax: 1-800-465-7166
TransUnion: 1-866-525-0262
1-877-713-3393 for Quebec residents

Stay tuned for more about fraud in the coming days.

Click here for more about fraud.

* With information from the Government of Canada Competition Bureau web site and The Little Black Book of Scams published by the Competition Bureau Canada 2012.