Job hunting online in a troubled economy

With the current tough economy, and rising unemployment, many Americans need to find a new job. One of the hottest places to find jobs these days in online.

Many people answer a job ad only to find out later that the actual job was misrepresented. in some cases, marketing jobs turn out to be door-to-door sales.

In others, a shipping job turns out to be a foreign scam.

But the better business bureau has tips to protect yourself before you get caught in a con.

Esther answered a newspaper ad for a "customer service job" where she would supposedly be "testing customer service."

But the red flag: the company wanted her to test out money wiring services after depositing a check for several thousands dollars in her own account.

The check was fraudulent: she would have wired away her own money.

Aleta answered a monster.com ad for a shipping job.

Red flag: she would receive and re-ship suspicious foreign goods.

"It was like offshore companies that deal with computer pieces and parts."

Scott answered a "career builder" ad for international sales.

His red flag: he'd have to use his own bank account.

"They were looking for people to use their bank accounts to build up us clients."

All the people above narrowly avoided getting caught in an employment scam.

The better business bureau says avoid job ads with grammar or spelling errors: English is not the writer's first language.

Beware too-good-to-be-true salary offers, such as "$3,000 a week."

Beware all work-at-home offers: very few are legitimate. Unsure? check with the BBB.

Avoid jobs asking for money up front: legit companies don't charge you to apply.

The BBB says two of the most common online job scams right now involve these phrases: "marketing" and "mystery shopping."

If you stumble upon either one of those terms in a job hunt, demand details about the job.

If the marketing sounds like door to door sales, or the mystery shopping involves cashing checks, it's probably a case of "don't waste your money."
Job hunting online in a troubled economy