Scammers are targeting job seekers by using outdated job ads from legitimate companies and posing as real employers on popular job sites.

These phony jobs are often masked as high-paying remote positions such as personal assistants, teaching assistants or customer service representatives, according to Rosario Mendez, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission.

Though these jobs appear to be legitimate, the scammers require sensitive information to complete their applications, such as Social Security or bank account numbers.

“With your Social Security number, your address, your phone number, all of those details, they can steal your identity,” Mendez said. “And they can use that information to commit other scams and frauds.”

How to protect against phony job ads before applying

• Visit the official company website and apply there instead.
• Google search the company along with words like “scam,” “review” or “complaint.”
• If they send a check and ask for some of the money, it’s a scam.

If a job ad appears to be a scam, report it to the job site platform so it can be investigated and possibly taken down.