The FBI issued a warning to online job seekers on Feb. 4., as it and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) continue to receive numerous complaints about work-at-home fraud.

As millions of Americans who are currently unemployed seek job opportunities, scammers work to devise schemes to take advantage of them.

The FBI warns that criminals operate many work-at-home schemes.

The scammers attempt to gain the trust of online job seekers in an effort to use working relationships to increase the reach of their illegal activities.

Although many people are aware of "phishing" and other identity theft scams, those seeking employment may not recognize this brand of criminal activity until they are already in the middle of it.

In most of the reports to the FBI and IC3, job seekers are offered jobs processing payments, transferring funds or reshipping products.

The victims usually don’t realize they are participating in crimes by cashing fraudulent checks, transferring illegally obtained funds or handling stolen merchandise until it is too late.

Other scams the FBI warned of include "mystery shopper" jobs.

The victims of these schemes are sent fraudulent checks and instructed to cash the checks and wire the proceeds as an audit of a company's service. As payment, they’re told to keep a portion of the funds.

In addition to participating in a crime, the victims of these scams may also unwittingly give criminals their personal information, which can then be used for identity theft.

These "employers" have reportedly used victim's identities not only to open credit accounts, but to commit additional crimes as well.

Richard Kolko of the FBI National Press Office advises everyone who may be seeking a job online to be wary of unsolicited job offers and to report any criminal activity.

The old adage applies - If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If you've been a victim of identity theft and your finances have been hurt, filing bankruptcy may help you.

Tags: filing bankruptcy, Identity Theft