Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / BBB Warns of Employment-Scam Surge -TPR's In Focus - June 23, 2026

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BBB Warns of Employment-Scam Surge -TPR's In Focus - June 23, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park on the main campus of Troy University,
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  featuring the International Arts Center, the Fred Nall Hollis Museum, and the Hua Bao Zhu Gallery.
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  More information at troy.edu slash arts park.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is The Exchange from InFocus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  The Better Business Bureau is reporting a spike in employment scams. Vice President Evie Owen
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  of the Better Business Bureau in South Alabama has studied those statistics,
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  and today she shares tips on how to avoid fraudulent job opportunities.
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  Evie Owen, welcome back to Troy Public Radio.
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  Thank you so much for having me, Carolyn. It's good to be here.
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  The Better Business Bureau just did a study about employment. What did you find out?
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  That's right. Well, we've known for years that employment scams are happening all the time
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  around us, but this new report that came out just showed us how much of an increase that we really
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  have seen over the last couple years, especially in 2025. Over the past three years, we've had
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  over 50,000 reports to the BBB Scam Tracker from people who have been targeted with employment
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  scams, and what's crazy about that number is almost half of those reports, 23,000,
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  actually came in just in 2025. So the scammers really found something there that they liked
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  seeing and have just been hitting it really hard. So what is the overall problem?
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  Well, ever since COVID, people have been looking for more flexibility, work-from-home jobs,
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  and as we know with the economy how it is and inflation, everything's more expensive.
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  More people are working second jobs and third jobs. They're working a few hours here and there
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  that they can pick up, and the scammers know that, and so they hit us where we want. They
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  hit us where we're weak, and they try to give us what we're looking for, which is this flexible
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  work-from-home jobs where you can just work a few hours and pick up several hundred dollars,
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  and they know that now. So how are they scamming people? What's the come on?
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  One of the interesting things that the BBB found in this study was that the channel that they are
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  hitting people with now is actually text-based a whole lot of the times. So the text channel has
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  just absolutely exploded in 2025. Probably everybody listening has gotten one at some
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  point where you get a text message that says, are you looking for a job where you can work
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  two hours a day and get $500 guaranteed and $2,000 in the first week? Text back some basic number,
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  and of course they use real businesses' names. You'll see Amazon, Microsoft, all the big dogs.
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  You'll see all the businesses presented there by these scammers. They know we're accessible
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  through text message right now, so it's very common. Are there any red flags to look out for?
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  So these are pretty easy red flags. If you get contacted out of the blue with a job offer
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  that you did not apply for, then that's a huge red flag. That means that they are just casting
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  a broad net, and they're trying to hook anybody that they can. And this is another easy red flag.
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  If they give you the job without ever interviewing you, huge red flag. Any legitimate
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  employer is not going to hire somebody that they have never talked to, seen their resume,
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  just learned anything about them. And of course, that interview doesn't have to be in person. It's
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  best if it's in person because that's the best way not to get scammed. But in the world of
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  digital technology right now, a lot of interviews are conducted over video, which is fine. And if
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  there's a high pressure offer to take the job immediately, hey, this offer is only good for
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  today. You can't think about it overnight. You've got to accept right now or this job offer won't be
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  here tomorrow. That's a huge red flag. How does a job seeker practice self-defense?
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  Of course, if you are contacted through a job, I know a lot of people when they're looking for jobs,
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  it's really hard right now, number one. The job market is just very tough, and I understand that.
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  And you're probably sending out tons of resumes. You're applying for tons of jobs. So sometimes
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  it's hard to remember what you even applied for. But just stop and think to yourself,
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  did I apply for this job? Confirm that first. And then also research the job. Look up their website.
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  See if the job is posted. If you can't find anything like that, call them. And don't call
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  the number that's in the email that they contact you from or in the text message that they contacted
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  you from. Go to Google. Type in the business name. Call that number. See if you can talk to somebody
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  and say, I'm just doing my due diligence. Just want to check and make sure this is a real job
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  before I actually go through with an interview or send them my new employee information. Sometimes
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  that alone right there will just go ahead and they'll say, nope, sorry. We've already gotten
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  10 calls this week from other people who have said that they have been contacted about a job here.
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  We're not even hiring right now. So go ahead and do that. Also remember to never pay a business to
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  get your paycheck. If this new employer is telling you that you have to pay a fee or that they
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  overpaid you or that you have to complete these tasks that include payment to get your paycheck,
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  then that's a scam. Just go ahead and know that. So never do that. And then avoid the jobs that
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  pay you to interact. If you are approached with a job that says, we just need you to watch or like
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  or subscribe to these videos or go online and do these five tasks, those are almost always a scam.
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  And what about the interview process itself? Is there any red flag there? Yeah. I mean, especially
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  if somebody asks you right away in the first interview for your personal information like
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  your social security, anything like that, your bank information right in the first interview,
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  that's a huge red flag. No legitimate business is going to ask you for that information until
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  they've offered you the job, until you've accepted the job, then they're setting you up in their
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  system. Of course, they need that for certain employment verifications, but that'll come later
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  on in the process. If they ask you that right off the bat, then go ahead and walk away. Well, Avie,
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  here we are right before the July 4th holiday. Is there anything we should be aware of in that
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  regard? Yeah, I'm so glad you asked. Of course, anytime that there is excitement and opportunity
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  and lots of money going around, scammers take notice. America is celebrating its 250th anniversary,
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  which is amazing and so fun, and everybody's getting into celebrating that. But that means
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  that scammers are using that as a way to target us. Right now, we're seeing a lot of online
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  purchase scams with fake America 250th merchandise memorabilia. One of the main
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  ones is around coins, 250th anniversary coins. The U.S. Mint has special release 250th anniversary
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  coins. But of course, scammers are selling counterfeit commemorative coins. So the good
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  thing to remember there is the only retailer that's selling it is the U.S. Mint. That's the
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  only place you can get those coins. And then it's just like what we see with college merchandise
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  and NFL merchandise. There are authorized retailers or sellers of the U.S. 250th anniversary
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  memorabilia items, so like bunting banners and flags and t-shirts. A lot of the links that we're
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  seeing in social media and emails and all that, those are actually just going to fake site. So
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  just be really careful with anything that you're buying online for the big celebration coming up.
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  Just make sure you're buying from an authorized retailer. Evie, how can the BBB Scam Tracker
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  help us identify the frauds? Yeah, the BBB Scam Tracker is such an awesome tool. It is our place
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  that we accept reports of scams. So if you as a consumer have been targeted by a scam, you can
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  submit a report to it. And then that's also where you can look up scams. We also have a new heat map
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  there that shows where scams are being targeted around the country right now. But it's so important
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  to report to the Scam Tracker. It's important to report to local authorities and of course your
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  banking institutions if you've lost money. But it's important to report to BBB Scam Tracker so
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  that we can get the word out and help others not fall victim to it. So when we start seeing these
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  scams come in, just like America's 250th, I started seeing reports about online purchase
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  scams there. So I made sure to start getting the word out about that. You can always go to bbb.org.
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  There is a link right there on our home page to the Scam Tracker. If you want to go directly to
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  the Scam Tracker, that's bbb.org slash Scam Tracker. It's always great to get your advice
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  for consumers, Evie. Thank you for your visit today. I don't want anybody to lose money,
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  especially right now when every dollar counts so much. Happy Fourth, Carolyn. That was Evie Owen,
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  Vice President of the Better Business Bureau for South Alabama. More information is at the website
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  bbb.org. Thanks for joining us for the Exchange on In Focus, which is a podcast wherever you get
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  your podcasts. I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.