{"id":141,"date":"2025-03-14T09:03:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T13:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/?p=141"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:15:48","slug":"fake-job-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/2025\/03\/14\/fake-job-offers\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Good to Be True? The Truth About Fake Job Offers on Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Job hunting is part of campus life, but scammers are taking advantage by sending fake job offers. These scams can steal your personal information, money, or both. Here\u2019s how to protect yourself.<\/p>\n<h2>How These Scams Work<\/h2>\n<p>Fake job offers often come through email, text, or social media. They might promise:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>High Pay for Easy Work<\/strong>: Offers that sound too good to be true.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Urgency<\/strong>: Messages pressuring you to act quickly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Requests for Personal Info<\/strong>: Asking for your Social Security number or bank details.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unprofessional Communication<\/strong>: Messages with typos, vague details, or generic greetings like \u201cDear Applicant.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Scammers might also send fake checks that bounce after you deposit them or ask for upfront payments for training or supplies.<\/p>\n<h2>Why Students Are Targeted<\/h2>\n<ol start=\"1\" data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>Eager for Jobs<\/strong>: Many students are looking for part-time work or internships.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inexperienced<\/strong>: New job seekers may not recognize scams.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Easy Access<\/strong>: Campus job boards and social media make students easy to reach.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Red Flags<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s what to watch for:<\/p>\n<ul data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>Unsolicited Offers<\/strong>: Be cautious of jobs you didn\u2019t apply for.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payment Requests<\/strong>: Legit employers won\u2019t ask you to pay for anything.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vague Details<\/strong>: Watch out for unclear job roles or unwillingness to provide information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unverified Contacts<\/strong>: Legit recruiters use company email addresses, not Gmail or Yahoo.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to Stay Safe<\/h2>\n<ol start=\"1\" data-spread=\"false\">\n<li><strong>Research Employers<\/strong>: Look up the company and confirm job postings on their website.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use Campus Resources<\/strong>: All job offers related to campus will be available via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/career-services\/handshake\/\">Handshake<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Protect Your Info<\/strong>: Don\u2019t share personal details like Social Security numbers until after you\u2019ve been hired.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid Overpayment Scams<\/strong>: If someone sends you a check and asks for part of the money back, it\u2019s a scam.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Report Scams<\/strong>: Please send any malicious emails you have received to <a href=\"mailto:phishfiles@montclair.edu\">phishfiles@montclair.edu<\/a> or by clicking the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/information-technology\/security\/pab\/\">Knowbe4 Phish Alert Button (PAB)<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Want to Know More?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">MSU Career Services | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/career-services\/current-students\/conduct-a-job-search\/avoid-job-scams-and-fraud\/\">Beware of Job Scams, Protect Your Privacy, Ask Questions<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal Trade Commission (FTC) | <a href=\"https:\/\/consumer.ftc.gov\/consumer-alerts\/2024\/04\/college-students-are-targeted-jobs-scams-too-0\">College students are targeted with jobs scams, too<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Better Business Bureau | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbb.org\/article\/news-releases\/20710-scam-alert-employment-scams-target-college-students\">BBB Scam Alert: Employment scams target college students<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Job hunting is part of campus life, but scammers are taking advantage by sending fake job offers. These scams can steal your personal information, money, or both. Here\u2019s how to protect yourself. How These Scams Work Fake job offers often come through email, text, or social media. They might promise: High Pay for Easy Work: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1424,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/1424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/phish-files\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}