Some signs to look for potential fraud:

Sign 1: Anyone asking for money up front.

One common type of fraudulent job listing involves an overseas company looking for someone in the United States to handle transactions by "processing" payments through their own bank account and transferring some of the money, often via wire, to their employers. The ads promise no tax implications and assure applicants that nothing they are doing is illegal. The company sends victims fake checks and asks them to wire their own money overseas before the bad check bounces. Some of these ads request personal identifying information, including bank account numbers, from applicants.

Sign 2: Requests to take a quiz.

Another scam being reported with greater frequency to Attorney Generals involves mystery shoppers, hired to allegedly test the services of local companies. The ads say the company will pay an applicant a fixed amount of money to wire part of a check or money order elsewhere. The check sent to victims, however, never clears and the victims are left with an overdrawn bank account.

Sign 3: Requests for personal financial information.

In our quest for the perfect job, career or even our first job out of college many people turn to the internet as a source of self marketing and promotion, job finder service and networking tool. Better Business Bureaus and Employment professionals, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigations have identified online fraud as one of the most common sources of identity theft. An online resume can be a ticket to the lotto and in some cases it's straight to the bank to cash that winning lotto check. Resumes provide identity thieves with personal information such as: name, address, telephone number, date of birth, schools attending and when, as well as references and their contact information. Some resumes even include height and weight. Consider: rewriting your resume using a functional format; include a work location; include education and work experience in general terms; create an anonymous job search email address, which does not use your name; use your cell phone number or even purchase a prepaid cell phone system while you are conducting your job search.

Additional steps you can take to protect yourself from scammers....

Step 1: Check out the company by putting its name in Google and add the word "complaint."

Step 2: Go to the Better Business Bureau website at bbb.org and check to see if the company is listed and its rating. If the company is not listed, look under its telephone number or Web address on the site.

Step 3: And remember, if the sender is too eager and the deal sounds too good to be true, run, don't walk, away.