The Warrensburg Police Department is offering several tips to help citizens identify and avoid scams.

All of this is after the report of two college students getting caught up in a virtual assistant scam. Both students answered an online advertisement for a Virtual Assistant position and both were sent checks for several thousand dollars to deposit in their accounts. They were then advised to send portions of the money to “clients” immediately. The bank later returns the check for insufficient funds leaving the students out several thousand dollars.

Here are some ways to tell if something is a scam:
-High Pay: Know the rates are for whatever job you’re applying for. Scammers will often try to use PayPal and Venmo since senders are often given the benefit of the doubt in disputes and can easily claim refunds, or they will send you a fraudulent check.

-Forwarding Payments: Scammers will often ask people to forward payments in order to launder money.

-Pushing to sign a contract: They want you to start as soon as possible. You might even receive a check immediately after applying with no interview and no background check. This quick turnaround forces you to sign a contract and does not allow you anytime to think. If someone is willing to work with you immediately just because you’ve shown interest in a job this should be a huge red flag.

-No job details: Any job listing should explain what you’ll be doing. A sure sign of a scam is they only list the benefits of the job like, flexible schedule and great pay.

-Shady employer details: The job listing should feature the name of the company. If you have suspicions, please do an online search of the company or the person you’re communicating with. Legitimate companies will have a web page, Facebook (or other social media), or LinkedIn, and the person contacting you should have a professional email account, not one from a generic domain like gmail.com.

-Poor spelling and grammar: Most, if not all scammers are not U.S. based and if you find a job from a company based outside the U.S., you might expect a few minor errors. But if the job listing is from a reputable U.S. company, it is not expected that it would be riddled with mistakes. If the posting says the company is U.S. based, it is most likely a scam.

-Trust your gut: If something feels wrong, please move on. If it feels too good to be true, do a little investigating on your own, or call the police department. It might save you several thousands of dollars and a possible hit to your credit report if you get behind on bills.