5 ways to spot fake workfromhome jobs

Work-from-home jobs can provide the flexibility that you need, but can you spot the scams out there?

Team Clark wants you to have the tools to avoid these ripoffs!

Brie Reynolds from FlexJobs provided us with five ways to avoid these fake jobs.

1. Never pay for an interview

The company may want you to pay them to train you, purchase software or invest in some way in order to get the job. Legitimate companies won’t make you spend money in order to work for them.

2. Watch out for the type of interview the company offers

Usually, companies will do in-person, phone or video chat interviews. If the business you apply to only wants to conduct interviews via online chat, be careful.

A huge red flag for instant message interviews is when the company doesn’t ask many in-depth questions about your skills or offers you the job immediately.

Pressuring you to accept their offer quickly is another bad sign. A scammer might try to get you to act without thinking, so always take a step back and consider if this offer is too good to be true.

3. Look for a detailed job description

Real jobs need people with specific skills, so companies will lay them out in a real listing. If a job description looks vague, only highlights benefits or has noticeable grammatical errors, it’s likely illegitimate.

Another red flag here could be a lack of responsibilities listed in the posting. A real company will tell you what work they expect you to perform as an employee.

4. Research the company!

This is extremely important during any job hunt. Typing the company name and the word “scam” into a search engine is a simple way to find out if a company is legitimate.

You should be able to find reports from the FBI or FTC and Better Business Bureau ratings. You can also look for forums where people post experiences with a company.

5. Ask a lot of questions

Another simple and effective way to spot a scam is to ask questions like:

Why did this position become available?

How long has the business existed?

Who are some of your clients?

If you get a bad feeling or the interviewer struggles to answer, you probably want to ditch this company.

Final thought

Above all, trust your gut. If you think something is fishy for even a moment:

Stop, think and research. If after that the company still seems like it might not be legit, don’t be afraid to walk away from it.