‘Tis the Season To Be Scammy: Avoid Being Hoodwinked During Your Holiday Job Search

The holiday season is supposed to be marked with merriment, but there are undoubtedly always a few grinches who try to spoil things for everyone else. While they might not make it an outright goal to steal Christmas, their criminal behavior can certainly derail your family’s holiday celebrations. That’s especially true if your goal is to make some extra money before Santa arrives. To ensure you’ll have a truly jolly holiday this year, you might want to watch out for these employment scams — which would certainly put their perpetrators on the naughty list.

Seasonal hiring can allow employers to get the help they need during the busier months and stimulate the local economy at the same time. In fact, U.S. retailers hired an extra 570,000 people during the 2016 holiday season. But scammers know that temporary workers are on the lookout for openings, which means many are trying to take advantage.

According to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker, over 4,600 employment scams were reported in 2018, making this type of scam the number one consumer risk of its kind. Work-from-home schemes are incredibly common, often promising individuals that they can make money quickly and remotely. Given the fact that the U.S. apparel market was valued at $315 billion in 2016 (partially due to the growing popularity of e-commerce), it’s no surprise that many people would jump at the chance to work as “secret shoppers” or provide customer support from the privacy of their own homes. Unfortunately, people may get roped into participating in illegal activities or end up on the hook for expensive purchases made by the scammers as a result.

There certainly are many legitimate work-from-home positions available, as nearly 4 million Americans worked remotely at least half the time in 2015. But you should run away from any “opportunity” that requires you to pay money upfront, that doesn’t provide enough information (or the information can’t be verified), or that simply seems too good to be true. Ultimately, becoming a victim of a work-from-home scam won’t merely set back your job search; it can also result in having your money and your identity stolen. And if that happens to you, you probably won’t feel much like singing carols or toasting to the new year.

Keep in mind that there are other employment scams to watch out for throughout the year. Whether you’re looking to become one of the 166,907 people in the U.S. who works in storage and warehouse leasing or you’ve got your sights set on a retail position, your prospective employer isn’t likely to offer you a job on the spot — especially before ever meeting in person. Even if you’re completely qualified for the job in question, be wary of any company that makes you an offer before conducting any kind of interview. Don’t fall for overpayment scams, either. Creatives like graphic and web designers may regularly receive email scams from someone pretending to be a prospective client but who actually want the target to wire “overpayment” to another party. Familiarize yourself with what fake recruiter emails look like, always get the details in writing, and trust your gut. It’s easy to be too trusting if you’re in a desperate position, but don’t let your desire to find employment cloud your judgment.

During the holiday season, it’s hard to believe that anyone would want to do you harm. But if you don’t do your due diligence, you could fall victim to an employment scam that could ruin your ability to deck the halls properly. And while these certainly aren’t the only scams to look out for this holiday, job seekers should stay on their toes and refrain from rushing into employment situations that could compromise their security if they want to avoid adopting a “bah humbug” attitude for the rest of the year.