You’ll get contacted by somebody claiming to be a recruiter, warns Britta Clark, director of communications at Better Business Bureau (BBB). They’ll say, “I saw your resume, let’s set up a time for the interview.” The offer that follows will be too good to be true. 

“I see it every single day,” Clark says.

According to a report from the BBB released in March, the prevalence of employment scams has increased. They were the third-most-common scam in 2021 but rose to second-most common in 2022. In both years, online purchase scams were the most common.

Notably, the report also found people were often convinced to spend far more money on a scam if they thought it had to do with potential employment. The median amount of money lost in employment scams was $1,500 in 2022, while the median for all scam types was $171.

Part of the problem can be desperation, Clark says. When people have been looking for jobs for months or years, they might lose their skepticism about these kinds of offers and move ahead with filling out paperwork. They can hand over bank account information, social security numbers, addresses and more—all routine things employers might use to set up tax and payroll information.“It can be a really discouraging process looking for a job, so you want to jump on any relief that you can,” Clark says. In Utah, this situation is compounded by layoffs in the technology sector that have driven more people into this job-seeking status. 

Clark says there isn’t one explanation for the increase in employment scams—it could be an uptick in job-seekers, for example, as well as newfound comfort with remote work and recruitment. But no matter the reason, she says people need to build a healthy habit of double-checking any offer’s validity.

Scammers notice and capitalize on news about economic depressions, recessions and the possible loss of jobs, Clark says, advising, “The best way to avoid [a scam] is to research the job offer. You can go to the company website and look for verification that the job was posted.”

Clark also recommends searching the email address contacting you to see if it’s used on professional profiles or company websites. Real-life recruiters are often imitated but might be aware of scams and post on their social media profiles ways to verify that they are legitimate. 

Mainly, it’s about maintaining a healthy perspective, Clark says, and “taking off those rose-colored glasses when we see an offer that’s too good to be true."