Have you been offered remote work for $1,200 a day? It’s probably a scam.

Have you received a job offer that seems too good to be true? If so, it’s probably a scammer’s attempt to scam you.

Incidences of employment scams jumped 118% in 2023 compared to a year earlier, according to a new report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC). And they seem more real than ever, thanks to artificial intelligence that has allowed criminals to create job postings that appear more legitimate and target more victims, according to Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of ITRC.

“They’re gathering information to make the publications much more sophisticated,” Velasquez told CBS MoneyWatch.

Velasquez described two common types of job scams to watch out for. In one, scammers post fake job openings on platforms like LinkedIn, using the names of real companies and hiring managers, which they scraped from legitimate websites. The second type involves a criminal posing as a recruiter speaking directly to victims.

“We have an opening that you would be great for”

“They either put in the name of a real company or a company that no one has heard of and say something like, ‘We see that you’re interested in this type of job and we have a position that would be a great fit for you,’” Velasquez said. The scammer’s ultimate goal is to get your personal information by encouraging you to submit an application.

Scammers will ask for information that is not typically required in a job application, such as your bank account number.

“They will continue to ask for more and more personal information until the victim stops and says, ‘Why are you asking me this?'” Velasquez said.

It can be difficult to resist an unsolicited job offer, especially if it promises a high salary. It can also be difficult to distinguish between real and fake opportunities, Velasquez acknowledged. But there are precautionary measures you can take to protect yourself.

On the one hand, if you have not made contact, do not engage with the alleged recruiter without first researching the opportunity. Search for the company name and check their job postings to see if there’s a match. Check the business name with a third-party accreditation site or even Yelp, Velasquez said.

Another clue is if a recruiter contacts you for a job at a small company. Small businesses typically don’t have a budget for recruiters, so a headhunter likely won’t contact you on their behalf.

Another feature of job scams is the promise of earning big money working remotely. Velasquez cautions people to be mindful that if a job offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.

“When you get a job offer saying they’ll pay you $1,200 a day to stuff envelopes, that’s not realistic. No company is going to do that,” she said. “It’s not a task that requires this level of compensation, but it capitalizes on our emotions.”