Author Unknown
Provided by Ellen Mulqueen

When you apply for a job, many times the potential employer will require additional information about you in order to conduct a security or background check. In this process, you are asked to provide pretty detailed information including social security number and some credit information.

Identity thieves are taking this information and using it to clean people out of their bank accounts or charge to their credit cards. The scam works like this:

The thieves tell you that you have the job. Not only do you have the job, but they make you an offer you can’t refuse and one that is extremely financially appealing. You jump at the chance and they’ve got you. How?

They ask you for details in order to conduct that “background check.” Sometimes, they ask you for your Social Security Number, bank account numbers, your mother’s maiden name, etc. They are looking for anything they can use to clean you out.

One really insidious trick is to ask you to put in a four digit PIN number. What they are counting on is that you will be stupid enough or lazy enough to use your real bank account pin number. All they have to do then is match your bank accounts with the pin number and, wallah, you are cleaned out.

Many job seekers are so anxious to get a job, having been unemployed forever, that they will provide the information willingly. Don’t! Look for clues that the prospective employer may be a scammer. Call the BBB and verify that they are a real corporation. Call the Chamber of Commerce in the town they are supposedly residing and check them out. Go to Google, type in their name and see what comes up. Type in the name of the person who is corresponding with you and see if they appear on the web anywhere. Someone said that Monster had an article on this subject and you should probably check that out as well.

Also, you should check with the Federal Trade Commission and they will provide guidelines to follow as well. If you’ve been the subject of identity theft, you can file a complaint with the FTC at: https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/widtpubl$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU03