One of the strengths of Indiana is that we bring together a variety of perspectives from the plethora of areas that touch the field of cyber, especially through the colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher education throughout our state. Hence the name, “Perspectives from the Campus”, we invite experts – immersed in the pursuit of educating their students – to offer their knowledge for finding solutions in cybersecurity that benefit all Hoosiers.

In the latest installment of this series, David Dungan, who serves as the executive director at the Center for Security Services and Cyber Defense at Anderson University, discusses job and internship/co-op scams that are targeting college students.

By David Dungan

College students nowadays have grown up with technology and understand common cyber threats. They know how to navigate social media and memes with ease. However, as college students are beginning to find work opportunities, they’re experiencing a new type of scare: internship/co-op and job scams.

Internship/co-op and job scams attempt to defraud students out of money and labor by acting as legitimate employers that are looking to hire new employees. These companies may utilize a variety of schemes, such as asking students for their banking information, to pay money, or to buy equipment for remote work from a specific website. The company may send a student a check to “reimburse” any purchases, only for the check to bounce and the student to lose money.

These internship scams have also been used as a front for human trafficking, encouraging students to travel to a secondary location to perform tasks. Job recruiters will reach out to unsuspecting victims through recruiting websites, such as LinkedIn, wanting to meet for a job interview. The recruiter will then “stall” the victim during the interview asking them seemingly random questions, and while the interview is taking place, the victim’s car is tampered with (presumably to track the victim). Legitimate job recruiter sites remove tens of millions of posts annually that contain scam content from their website to help protect genuine users.

The Federal Trade Commission documented business and job opportunity scams are the fifth most prevalent type of fraud. Workers reported more than 80,000 job scams in 2023 accounting for $277 million in losses.

Job scams target specific types of employment, including nannies/caregivers, virtual personal assistants, mystery shoppers, government and postal job scams, or work from home opportunities such as reselling or reshipping jobs. Scammers may also pose as job placement services.

Among the warning signs students should look out for include:

• The company sends a check and asks you to return the remaining money you did not spend.
• The job recruiter contacts you without prompting or filling out an application.
• The recruiter contacts you through a generic email account instead of a business account.
• The company hires you without a formal interview.
• The job listing is vague and uses phrases such as “No Experience Necessary”, “Work Your Own Hours”, “Work from Home”, or “Earn $1,000 a week”.
• The job listing uses phrases such as “wire transfers”, “PayPal”, “Venmo”, or “money transfers” as a part of the ad.
• The employer pressures you to decide on the job offer quickly.
• Incorrect spelling or grammar in emails and/or job listings.

Some ways to protect yourself against job scams include:

• Look up the name of the company hiring you, using words such as “scam” or “complaint”.
• Contact the company or recruiter directly.
• Ask for the job details, such as duties and pay, in writing.
• Making sure that you don't pay money to the employer for a job, such as supplies or exam fees.
• Looking up the domain of the website and if the website was created recently with a free domain, this could be a red flag as well.

Students should reach out to trusted advisors at the school they're attending or mentors before accepting a job, internship, or co-op, especially if anything about the offer seems to be "too good" to be true. Finding a job or securing an internship or a co-op is a process that's stressful and there are a lot of factors that go into making a decision. Navigating through it all can be tricky. Students are encouraged to use all of the resources that are available -- and your instincts -- to help in recognizing a potential scam by noticing aspects that seem off about a prospective employer or job opportunity.

It's important, too, to remain cautious of scams even in the midst of something as exciting as landing that ideal internship, co-op, or job. The cost of attending school, not to mention all of the expenses that go into moving to another city, state (or even another country) to work for a company as part of an internship or a co-op, isn't cheap; all the more reason to do your homework and take the time to follow a few simple steps whenever you're online to keep your career and education on the right track!