LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — As the weather is heating up this summer, so are scams.
“Lately I’ve been getting a lot of, cause I’ve applied on some job postings before, and I’ve been getting a lot of fake offers sent to me and stuff like that,” said Nick Coleman.
What Coleman described is a common scam according to the Better Business Bureau. Especially this time of year, con artists will target college or high school students looking for summer work.
“You can certainly vet employers by checking with the Better Business Bureau, many times we’ll have a report on the business behind the offer. Just be careful about what kind of information you provide, if someone wants money up front, that’s a red flag,” said Heather Clary with the Better Business Bureau of Central and Eastern Kentucky.
Officials said that people should also be wary of online travel or vacation rental offers. They suggest avoiding Craiglist and reading ads carefully.
“Poor grammar, or something seeming too good to be true, that’s usually a telltale sign that it’s obviously fake,” said Coleman.
There are also door-to-door contractors looking for work who also may not be legit.
“They may seem really friendly. They show up in an unmarked truck, they don’t have any credentials, they may try to use scare tactics — ‘Your gutters are falling down’ or ‘Boy, your roof looks really bad,’ ‘We’ve got extra stuff in the truck we can pave your driveway’ — offers that they want you to accept on the spot is where people run into trouble,” said Clary.
BBB officials said that other common scams this time of year are people selling alarm systems door-to-door and fake music tickets online.
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