Be warned: the Internet provides fertile ground for con artists to practice their deceits. Many of them are finding easy pickings on job boards. There are two common scams to be wary of — fraudulent job offers and identity theft.

Fraudulent job offers are often related to work-at-home schemes that require an upfront investment. These offers are made after applicants e-mail their résumés to someone offering a "unique, ground-floor" opportunity. With the résumé in hand the fraudsters can tailor their pitch to each victim and extract thousands of dollars in sign-up fees and the like.

A twist on this fraud comes from bogus recruiters who demand placement fees when they "find" positions for innocent job seekers who have posted their résumés on career search web sites. Legitimate recruiters will earn their fees from employers, not prospective employees. Therefore, never pay a fee to a recruiter.

Identity theft occurs when scammers gather personal information from your résumé. The problem is compounded if you provide checking account, bank and credit card information as part of a "security check" used to screen you for prospective employment. With this information, identity thieves can quickly clean out your accounts and string you up with massive debts.

The July 2003 edition of Consumers Reports provides a list of actions you can take to prevent these crimes. Among their suggestions, are two I completely agree with:

• Never include your social insurance number, birth date or any other personal data on an Internet résumé
• Refuse any on-line background checks until you've completed a face-to-face interview

For more information, read the complete Consumers Reports article. Your local library will likely have a back issue in their archives.