We know a lot of you are looking for part-time jobs just now – and please don’t panic; the vast majority of ads will be absolutely fine! Just occasionally, though, we hear about job adverts which aren’t genuine. If you’re taken in by one of these it could cause you a lot of anxiety, distress and possibly financial loss.
So when you’re checking job sites for part-time opportunities, or if you receive an unsolicited job advert from a source you’re not familiar with, watch out for the following warning signs which should make you wary. Does the advert:
- Ask you to invest money? (Never send money to employers)
- Expect you to pay for training or stock before starting work?
- Ask for details of your bank account on application?
- Ask you to make financial transactions using your own bank account?
- Offer a surprisingly high salary? If it seems too good to be true it probably is!
In particular, fraudsters may target strapped-for-cash students by offering large financial gain for a small amount of time and effort. Read more about typical scams of this kind here:
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-money-muling
http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-work-from-home-scams
We advise you to make your own checks on companies. If you’re concerned, start by Googling the company name and “scam” to see if other people have reported issues. For more advice see www.safer-jobs.com. As a general rule, if you think a job opportunity doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts.
We’re all aware of the risk of falling prey to phishing, and the need to guard against identity theft. It makes sense to exercise a similar degree of caution, too, when it comes to looking for work, and remember that – amongst the thousands of genuine job ads – there will be just a very small number that aren’t.
Read about finding part-time jobs here: http://www.ed.ac.uk/careers/looking-for-work/part-time-vacation
