General Brenna Bird is cautioning Iowans to be wary of scammers posing as potential employers. In one of these scams, you may receive a job offer via text or email describing a job that allows you to work from home with little effort.  

However, these unsolicited offers are often too good to be true.  You might get what looks like an official-looking job offer (sometimes before you even interview), yet the offer comes with paperwork that requires your personal financial information (supposedly for direct deposit).  A so-called ¢â‚¬Å“recruiter ¢â‚¬ � or ¢â‚¬ � interviewer ¢â‚¬ � will even push for you to answer that information before they answer questions about the job.  

In reality, there is no job.  It ¢â‚¬â„¢s a scam and the ¢â‚¬Å“recruiter ¢â‚¬ � or ¢â‚¬Å“interviewer ¢â‚¬ � is a scammer. Real employers won ¢â‚¬â„¢t ask for personal financial information before they ¢â‚¬â„¢ve actually interviewed and hired you. 

¢â‚¬Å“If a job offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Scammers are evil and prey on people who need a job or extra income, ¢â‚¬ � said Attorney General Bird. ¢â‚¬Å“Be very aware, do your homework on a potential employer, and don ¢â‚¬â„¢t give away your personal information until you have a job offer from a legitimate business. ¢â‚¬ �  

How do you know if a job offer is a scam? 

• Was the job offer unsolicited?  Be wary of job offers over email or text and any ¢â‚¬Å“employer ¢â‚¬ � with an overly simple interview process. 

• What is the sender ¢â‚¬â„¢s email address? Recruiters will generally email from a corporate email account, not from a personal email like @gmail.com or @yahoo.com. 

• What information do they want?  Scammers will ask for your personal information like your driver ¢â‚¬â„¢s license, Social Security number, or bank account number to fill out ¢â‚¬Å“employment paperwork ¢â‚¬ � before you interview or before they will talk about job duties.  

Before you accept a job offer: 

• Search online. Look up the name of the company or the person who ¢â‚¬â„¢s hiring you, plus the words ¢â‚¬Å“scam, ¢â‚¬ � ¢â‚¬Å“review, ¢â‚¬ � or ¢â‚¬Å“complaint. ¢â‚¬ � See if others say they ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been scammed by that company or person. 

• Don't pay for the promise of a job. Honest employers will never ask you to pay to get a job. If they do, it ¢â‚¬â„¢s a scam.  

• Never bank on a ¢â‚¬Å“cleared ¢â‚¬ � check. No honest potential employer will ever send you a check and then tell you to send part of the money back or buy gift cards with it. That ¢â‚¬â„¢s a fake check scam.  

If you or someone you know is a victim of or suspicious of a scam, contact the Iowa Attorney General ¢â‚¬â„¢s office at 1-888-777-4590 or file a complaint online here.