Job Offer Scams

An international job offer scam is a type of fraud that involves individuals overseas pretending to be employers or agencies by offering fake “lucrative jobs,” often requiring an advanced payment for processing of paperwork and travel expenses and usually occurring between two or more nations. Anyone in any region of the world can be victimized. The scam is often conducted through e-mail. A job scam is commonly referred to as a 419 fraud or an advance fee fraud. Given recent economic downturns, many have turned to the Internet in search of jobs, and many fall prey to such offers. The scams have become popularized with so-called offers to work in areas such as West Africa, Southeast Asia (namely, Malaysia), Europe, and the Middle East. The ...