Student Job Offer Scams

UCSC students are frequently being targeted by fake job offer scams, putting them at financial and legal risk. Many college students are anxious about finding a job, and these scams use tactics meant to trigger those anxieties.

How Do Job Offer Scams Work?

Typically, someone contacts you, usually by email, and invites you to apply for or start a job.

These job offers are often unsolicited, meaning you never applied or interviewed for the job. Other times, you are invited to apply for a job with unusually desirable conditions (short hours, easy work, lots of money, ability to work from home).

After you apply, a short and easy interview process, light on actual job details, may be conducted. These scams can also start with someone offering to help you with your resume or find a placement in a job.

There are many different kinds of scams. Here are two examples:

  • A common scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), targets college students, who are sent a fake check and asked to handle, transfer, or spend the money for seemingly legitimate purposes like ordering office supplies. Although you may receive a check, that check will typically bounce. Depending on how you are directed to use the money, you could even be charged with a crime like money laundering or credit card fraud.
  • Other times, students will be asked to send money in the form of gift cards or cryptocurrency like Bitcoin: two methods of sending money that are untraceable, and unrecoverable.

How Do You Know If an Unexpected Job Offer Is a Scam?

Scams Are Generic

“Dear student,” one scam email begins, “We got your contact through your school directory…”

Emails that don't mention specifics like your name or the school you attend are kept general so they can be sent to many people at once. It is highly uncommon for a company to offer a job to a large group of people, especially when those people haven't applied or interviewed.

Job offer scams might also include generic job descriptions like “organize item orders” or “write detailed reports,” and sometimes include no job description at all.

Scams Are Unsolicited

“You are selected from your school directory to partake in the ongoing Student Empowerment Program PART TIME JOB OFFER…” reads another scam email.

Any student who has applied for jobs knows the market can be competitive. And just as companies don't typically offer jobs to a large number of people, they also don't typically select those people at random.

If you receive an offer for a job you didn't apply for, and they claim to have found you through “your school directory” or “your school job search,” you are most likely the target of a scam.

Scams Are Too Good to Be True

One scam email from “Terry White” (no company listed) encourages you to “Work 7 hours weekly and get paid $350.” Not bad for an entry-level position you were chosen randomly for.

Job offer scams entice with unbelievably good pay for very easy work—something that just isn't that common in the real job market.

Scams Have Spelling and Grammar Errors

Emails from reputable companies will have little or no spelling or grammar errors. An abundance of errors in spelling or grammar is a definite red flag.

The following are all quotes from real job offer scams:

  • “The research position is open to Students from any department of the Institution as it give great opportunities for Santa Cruz Student to study and earn money…”
  • “Accompanied by an attractive wages and a reasonable working hours per week.”
  • “Receive detailed invoice showing all products ordered for are correct and in place.”

Job Scams at UCSC

Sometimes scammers impersonate professors, advisors, deans, or other members of the UCSC community to trick students and employees into giving up personal information. This can also take the form of a fake job offer.

As a rule, students are only hired for UCSC student jobs through official channels, such as an @ucsc.edu email address, or an application on UCSC Handshake, UCSC Jobs, or another official ucsc.edu website.

To protect yourself from job scams involving someone pretending to be a UCSC community member, do not respond to any unsolicited email job offers. Contact the UCSC department directly or verify through an official source, such as UCSC Handshake or UCSC Human Resources. The same applies for text messages, even if the sender claims to be someone you know from UCSC.

What To Do If You’ve Responded to a Job Offer Scam

If you have responded to a job offer scam and have exposed personal information, you should report it.

  • If the phishing message was directed to your UCSC email account, report the incident to ITS Information Security through the UCSC ITS Support Center at extension 9-4357 or help@ucsc.edu.
  • If you believe you have been a victim of fraud or identity theft, immediately notify your local police jurisdiction and cease all contact with the suspect organization. You can also contact the UC Santa Cruz Police Department Dispatch Center to speak with an officer at 831-459-2231 (option 1).

For more specific guidance based on the information you’ve revealed, see “What to do if you’ve responded to a phishing scam” on the “Beware of Scams” page.

Finding Legit UCSC Jobs

If you are interested in finding a student job at UCSC, consider searching for positions on UCSC Handshake or contacting a potential UCSC supervisor directly using their @ucsc.edu email address.

Latest Phishing Attempts

For examples of what job offer scams are currently targeting students, visit The Phish Bowl.

Stay safe!

Students should remain skeptical, do their research, and use their best judgment. When in doubt:

  • Verify the offer by contacting the company directly.
  • Look them up online.
  • Don't use the number or email address from the email. Look for a contact in HR, call them, and ask if this is a legitimate job offer.

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