In 2022, scammers actively email students fake job opportunities in an attempt to get money out of them. These scammers may pose as professors or job recruiters and offer large sums of money. Often, the work will involve “administrative tasks,” such as finding the price of items in a store and purchasing gift cards. The sums of money offered range from $300 to $800 for a few hours of work.
The end goal is to persuade students to purchase gift cards (and send the gift card information to them) or cash phony checks.
Here are some quick indicators that a job opportunity may be a scam:
- Job opportunity email comes out of the blue
- The “professor/recruiter” seeks the student out for the job (instead of the student coming to them)
- Email comes from a personal account, such as Gmail (always check the email from address)
- The recruiter asks to communicate via personal email address or messaging/chat app such as text, WeChat, Skype, etc.
- The recruiter accepts your resume without any interview
- The recruiter asks you to purchase items and gift cards with your own money (never purchase gift cards when asked to in an email/chat)
If you receive a job scam email, delete it. If you have lost money in a job scam, email servicedesk@lmu.edu for next steps.
