ATLANTA, Ga. — The Better Businesses Bureau is sending a strong warning to job seekers.
“These scammers are taking your personal information,” said Simone Williams.
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The BBB told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln they’re seeing an increase in con artists targeting people who use job recruitment websites.
“What we’re seeing is that scammers are looking at resumes,” Williams said.
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A Metro Atlanta woman who wants to go by Kim to protect her identity tells me she was targeted by someone pretending to be a job recruiter for Avis Budget Group.
“He reached out to me through my cell phone by text message and mentioned Indeed,” Kim said.
She says after being asked a few questions, she offered the job.
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“This is strange,” said Kim.
Kim said the final red flag was when the man overnighted her a check worth $4,400 to purchase work supplies.
The BBB says they’re seeing thieves use this specific scheme to grab people’s identities. And worse, they make their victims unknowingly commit fraud by depositing stolen checks. Then, Williams says, in turn, they will come up with an excuse on how to send the money back to them.
“Then Cash App or Zelle it to him, and then he will disappear,” she said.
“He was very specific as to how I needed to manage that check; I could not go into the branch; I had to deposit it into the ATM,” Kim said.
Avis Budget Group has posted a warning on its website about this scheme.
For more tips on how to protect yourself from scams, click here.
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