Fake Job Offers and Check Scams: "You're Hired — No Interview Needed!"

Job scams target people when they’re most hopeful: a student looking for part-time work, a parent wanting to work from home, someone between jobs. The offer arrives by text, email or a job site, and it’s almost too good to be true. It is.

How the fake check scam works

1. You’re “hired” quickly — often without a real interview, sometimes over a chat app.
2. They mail you a check for “home office equipment” or “training supplies.”
3. You deposit it, and your bank makes the money available within a few days.
4. You’re told to send most of it to an “approved vendor” by payment app, wire transfer, gift cards or crypto.
5. Days or weeks later the check bounces. The bank takes the full amount back from your account — and the money you sent is gone.

Other job scam red flags

• High pay for simple work like data entry, reshipping packages or “rating products”
• Interviews only by text or chat, never on the phone or video
• Requests for your Social Security number and bank login before you’ve started
• Being asked to pay for training, equipment or a background check
• Jobs that involve receiving and reshipping packages or moving money — these can make you part of a crime

Protect yourself

• Research the company independently and contact them through their official website.
• Never deposit a check from someone you don’t know and send money back.
• Real employers never need your online banking password. Direct deposit needs only your routing and account numbers, provided through payroll paperwork.

If you shared your Social Security number, consider a free credit freeze with all three credit bureaus. Questions? Call us at 620-960-8711.