You posted your resume online. A few days later, you get a call from a well-known company's HR department, located in a different city. They saw your resume online, and thought you would make a great candidate for a position they are offering.
For you, it’s a dream job with a great company that pays better than you were expecting. Just like that, you think, your unemployment woes are through.
They ask you a few basic questions and then say they'd like to do a follow-up interview at their office. They can't pay for your plane ticket, but they can offer you their corporate discount rate.
If you are interested, they will book the flight internally to get the 50% discount, as soon as you give them the payment information. Unfortunately, there will be no plane ticket waiting for you. Sure, you will see charges on your card--but it won't be for anything you need. You may not be getting on a plane, but you were taken for a ride.
How to avoid: first of all, no prospective employee will ask for your credit card information. But if you insist on finding out for sure, look up the company's number in the phone book and call their HR department and find out if it was actually them. Chances are, it wasn't. You may not have your dream job, but at least you still have your credit intact.