In a recent report on job searching, The Conference Board noted that people are increasingly turning to the Internet as a key tool, noting that in 2007, 73 percent of job seekers reported using the online sources compared to 66 percent in 2005.
While the Internet has made searching for jobs easier, it also provides an opportunity for identity thieves and scammers to take advantage of eager -- and unsuspecting -- job seekers.
A 2007 survey by CareerBuilder.com found that 84 percent of U.S. workers are not in their dream job. Unfortunately, the search for a dream job can lead to becoming a victim of identity theft or other types of fraud. In 2007 alone, the Federal Trade Commission recorded more than 11,000 complaints about business opportunities including work-at-home scams, many of which were advertised online.
The Better Business Bureau knows that the number of people who actually report being a victim of fraud when searching for a job is only the tip of the iceberg. With a tough economy and tight job market forcing both businesses and job seekers to make difficult choices, the BBB expects that instances of online job search fraud will continue to grow in the coming months as unemployment rates rise.
The Better Business Bureau is providing guidance that will help people spot the seven most common red flags associated with online job search scams:
Red Flag: Employer e-mails are rife with grammatical and spelling errors.
Most online fraud is perpetrated by scammers located outside the U.S. Their first language usually isn't English, and this is often evident in their poor grasp of the language, which can include poor grammar and the misspelling of common words.
Red Flag: E-mails purporting to be from job posting Web sites claiming there's a problem with a job hunter's account.
After creating a...

More... (http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=60672)