7 tips on how to look for work without falling for scams

As the national unemployment rate hovers at 10%, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns job seekers to beware of scammers.

New jobless claims in mid-August unexpectedly spiked to 500,000, the Labor Department said, an increase of 12,000 over the previous week. And a July report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found nearly 45% of unemployed Americans had been out of work for more than 6 months.

"The dismal employment rate means that a lot of people are desperate for work and may be grasping for any job,which creates a great opportunity for scammers," Stephen A. Cox, President and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said in a statement. "Not thoroughly researching a job opportunity can make a bad situation even worse and a victim can lose hundreds or even thousands of dollars to any number of job-related scams."

Fortunately, job hunters can protect themselves and their bank accounts from scammers by watching out for the following seven red flags when looking for work: