With almost every possible type of business expanding its operations over the internet nowadays, it’s not surprising that we see all sorts of jobs online. And it is quite easy to see why many get tempted when they get offered a telecommute job that pays as much as what they earn from their day job or even more, without ever having to endure the daily commutes.
With the growing number of offers, it may be a challenge to distinguish those that are legitimate offers from otherwise, however. But if you know what to watch out for when searching for a job online, it will be easier to identify scammers, and land a really paying remote job instead. You can avoid remote job scams by following this guide.
State of Remote Work
Working from anywhere has become the future of work that even the president of Global Workplace Analytics, Kate Lister, predicts that by 2025, about 70% of the labor force will work remotely at least five days in a month. US employers seem to like the idea as well that more companies are making ways to negotiate the challenges that comes with it.
A report on the state of remote work for the year 2021 indicates that 90% of those who participated in the study and have worked from home during the pandemic say that they “are at the same productivity level — or higher — working from home compared to the office.” Also considering that the number of businesses that have adapted either the remote or hybrid work setup have considerably increased since the start of the pandemic, many more job hunters will be looking for opportunities to work from home.
Looking for the right freelance jobs becomes a challenge when you do not know where to look for and also do not know how to identify savvy scammers from the real businesses. So how do you sort the good job offers from the not-so-trustworthy ones? Here are a few guidelines on what to avoid when grabbing online job offers.
How to Spot Remote Job Scammers and Find Legit Job Offers
There are a number of legitimate remote job offers that may be accessed online. But as they may be listed even in some trusted sites, you will really have to evaluate an offer before applying for the vacancy. Instantly spot scammers to distinguish real jobs from otherwise.
1. Check for warning signs.
Fortunately, it is easier to identify fraudulent job offers now that remote job scams have become more prevalent.
Warning signs of a work-from-home job scam
While job scammers continuously device strategies, there are still some explicit indicators that a job is a fraud. You can easily spot the same old tricks that scammers employ:
Huge pay for little or no effort. If it sounds to good to be true, then most certainly it really isn’t good at all.
If the company promises unrealistic offers to make their job opening advertisements enticing, then most probably it is a fake job.
The job offer indicates a Gmail address or other personal email addresses as the primary mode of communication. If the contact email address indicated in the job description is a personal (e.g._____@gmail.com) or any other email address that imitates a real company’s email address (e.g.__________@exxonmobilcompany.com) then it is a sure red flag (unless of course you are dealing with a private individual requiring a freelancer for hire to do a gig or short term projects.
The prospective employer does not want to have a face-to-face interview with you. There is a great chance that scammers would even ask you to pay a certain amount so that they can process your application. Scammers would never want their face to be exposed, so they would rather chat with you during the supposed to be prescreening. You will also notice them trying to get to the part where you will be instructed to deposit the payment to start the processing of your application.
Interviews done outside the platform where the vacancy is posted. I’m referring to job sites like Upwork, Freelancer, and other similar job listing sites. If the person who responded to your application or who might have contacted you even without your request for information, and instruct you to continue your conversation to another platform other than that which has been designated by the site admin, then it is most probably a scammer trying to get a hold of you.
You receive a job offer without you sending any application. Any prospective employer who does not even require applicants to have the necessary skills, most probably it is a fake job.
2. Take note of the job description.
If the job description does not clearly say what the responsibilities that come with the job offer, then it could probably be a hoax offer. If there are also obvious grammatical errors in the job description, it could probably be a job posted by scammers.
3. Research the company.
Before you accept an offer or even consider applying for a job post, make sure that you will be contacting a legit business. A quick identity check, whether on Google or on social media, will provide you related information about the company. You can also verify the status of a business, even check if there are complaints filed against the business through the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. If you can’t find anything about the business or the person, the best thing that you should do is to reconsider moving forward with your application. This is a simple guide to on how to search for remote jobs (if you plan to start a freelancing career).
4. Check the fine prints of an offer.
There could be vital details in the supposed company site or job offer, such as terms that will require you to do things that are unexpected from a legit business or company. Compare the images on the company’s testimonial page with those that may be generated using TinEye.com. If you notice the same image appearing on several other pages of different businesses, it could probably be that the offer is fraudulent.
5. Keep a checklist of the companies and vacancies that you have applied to.
There won’t be any better way to keep track of all your applications and all those legit email addresses that you have already responded to. Be organized, so you can stay away from scammers who may be posing as a hiring manager for a legit company but is contacting you through a different email address.
6. Connect with the recruiter.
Verify the payment options and the frequency of the payment they make. Even if you were interviewed through a legitimate job posting site, there is still a chance that the job poster may be a fraudster. Connect and ask questions early on to see how responsive and how genuine the responses are. Even if the prospective employer plans to pay through a legitimate payment platform like PayPal, Payoneer, Coinbase, and similar payment platforms, you still need to make sure that the company is going to pay.
7. Take screenshots of your transaction.
You can’t be so sure what happens next even if the company or a client has been paying well. Make sure to take screenshots of your communication, just in case your contact starts to play hide and seek.
There are many ways that the internet changed the workplace. Whether you prefer to find freelance jobs or regular day jobs, you need to adapt to how the world interconnect opportunities with opportunity seekers.
Search for Legitimate Jobs
If you have fallen prey to a scammer before, it does not mean that you will be next time. Since many company have embraced this idea of working from anywhere, it means that the present state of remote jobs won’t just be a phase.
Considering the perception of majority of those who participated in the Global State of Remote Work 2021 that they “are at the same productivity level — or higher — working from home compared to the office,” it will be easy to think that many prefer to work remotely.
And as many businesses are forced to create a new way of working, there will be more and more individuals who will be convinced to work from anywhere.
The best thing that you can do to avoid remote job scammers when searching for real jobs online, is to go to legit job platforms. For some of the websites you can check for legit job offers, you may want to visit the following sites:
- Linkup
- CareerBuilder
- Glassdoor
- AppJobs
- Peopleperhour (for specialty job listings)
- VAnetworking (for VA jobs)
- Fiverr (short-term engagements or gigs)
- Employease
- CareerJet
You may also want to check these paying sites for writers.
A Better Way to Find Legit Job Offers Online
Here at Work Anywhere for Beginners, we provide you with useful productivity tools, tips, and even links to legit job offers to make sure that you can find that dream job that you are looking for. Again, before you apply for any job posting, make sure to check How to Spot Remote Job Scams and Find Legit Job Offers. There are many real jobs online that pay well that also do not involve doing illegitimate or unethical things. Consider this guide to help you to find the right job for you.
