Employment scams were the riskiest scams in 2018, according to a recent report from the Better Business Bureau (BBB.org/RiskReport).
According to the Risk Report, the ten riskiest scams in 2018 were: employment, online purchase, fake checks/money orders, home improvement, advance fee loans, romance, tech support, investment, travel/vacation and government grants.
Employment scams had more instances and higher losses than in previous years when it ranked the third riskiest. The report is based on data supplied by consumers to BBB Scam TrackerSM (BBB.org/ScamTracker) and is based on the BBB Risk Index, a unique algorithm that calculates exposure, susceptibility and monetary loss to offer a more accurate assessment of scam risk.
“This was a surprise,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the report. “It’s the first time since we began this report three years ago that one scam dominated across so many demographic subgroups. It was the riskiest scam in three of the six age groups, and for both men and women. It was also the riskiest scam for military families and veterans, and students.”
Amazon, a BBB Accredited Business, has only one authorized job application site: amazon.jobs. Any other link is a scam, said Trumpower.
