Bankruptcy Indiana

“Job openings are down, so scams are up,” warns JobOpenings.net. There are always people ready to believe there is a quick solution to their troubles, and as a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana these many years, I try my best to be sure my clients and blog readers don’t fall prey to scammers.  I’ve been blogging about early tax refund scams, credit repair scams, phony foreclosure consultants, and scammers offering to find your original real estate deed or telling you to send in a check to collect your sweepstakes winnings.

Of all these scams, I think one of the cruelest types is job related scams. These usually take two forms, asking you for personal identification numbers and asking for a payment to help you in your job search. NEVER give bank account, PayPal, or credit card numbers to a prospective employer, and never transfer or “wire” money. Some clues that should alert you to a scam include:

1. The contact email is a yahoo.com, gmail.com, or other free account.

2. Company uses a post office box address only.

3. Company uses only a toll free number or cell phone number with no land line.

4. Company is not a member of any Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce.

5. There is no website for the company.

6. The salary offer is out of proportion to the educational or experience requirements for the job.

In many earlier blog posts, I’ve made mention of the fact that in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor is given three to five years to make payments.  But, if someone who has begun such a plan under the supervision of the bankruptcy trustee then gets laid off, it becomes crucially important for that individual to find another job quickly before the bankruptcy trustee files a motion to invalidate the Chapter 13 repayment plan.  In order to preserve the protection from creditors, the debtor must have enough income to continue making their Chapter 13 payments.  What’s more, quite often the reason for selecting Chapter 13 was to try to save the home from foreclosure.  You can see why it would be especially unfortunate for Chapter 13 debtors to fall prey to job scammers. 

 There will probably always be scammers, but the only hope of preventing scams from hurting even more people is by reporting scams to the authorities. You can contact the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Better Business Bureau, or the Indiana Attorney General’s office.

People who are trying their hardest to rebuild their financial lives don’t need any more heartaches than they already have!