Print edition: 
The Better Business Bureau wants to alert consumers to new scams occurring on Craigslist and other Internet services which are aimed at stealing your identity and/or your money.
The BBB learned about several people in the Wichita area who were victims of an auto scam recently on Craigslist. Potential home renters and job seekers have also been affected by scams, in attempts to obtain personal and financial information.
The BBB suggests the following when shopping online on Craigslist or similar sites:
* Confirm the online seller's physical address and phone number before you buy. It comes in handy if you have questions or problems later.
* Deal with local people you can meet in person and meet in a public place. Take your cell phone and a friend. Do not meet in a secluded place or invite strangers into your home. Be careful when buying or selling items of high value.
* Money sent via wire transfer service such as Western Union or Money Gram is extremely difficult to retrieve. Once scammers have picked it up, there is little recourse, if any, for getting the money back.
* Fake cashier checks and money orders are common, and banks will cash them and hold you responsible when the fake is discovered later.
* Do not give out personal or financial information such as your bank account number, Social Security number, eBay or PayPal information.
* Avoid deals involving shipping or escrow services.
* Do not rent housing without seeing the interior, or purchase expensive items without seeing them first.
* Do not be pressured; trust your instincts.
Although it is common for the unemployed to use social-networking sites, newspapers and online postings to look for jobs, it's important to know how to spot red flags. The BBB warns job hunters of three common job scams:
* Job offers that require upfront fees. No legitimate job offer requires out-of-pocket expenses from a potential employee for background checks, credit reports or administrative fees before an interview. Job seekers should never provide bank account information for direct deposit setup until they have officially been hired.
* Unsolicited job offers. Identity thieves use different methods for getting personal and financial information from job hunters. Spam e-mail might offer a great opportunity and direct job hunters to a website that is designed to install malware on their computer or solicit bank account details. In other cases, job hunters might be asked to submit a resume, find out they've been hired and then immediately be asked for bank account or Social Security numbers.
* The job requires you to wire money. Many phony jobs require the employee to cash a check sent by the company through the mail and then wire a portion of the money to another entity. Reasons given for this vary from scam to scam. Whatever the story, the result is always the same: The check is a fake and the employee is out the money he or she wired back to the scammers.
If you find a job scam or are the victim of Internet fraud, including Craigslist scams, report it to us by calling 800-856-2417 or e-mailing info@kansasplains.bbb.org.
Contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center at 800-251-3221 or at www.ic3.gov.
Roberta Namee and Mary Ann Redeker-Perez work for the Better Business Bureau in Wichita.If you have questions or concerns about a company, contact the bureau at 800-856-2417 or www.kansasplains.bbb.org.
