Like most college sophomores, I’ve been scrambling for an internship for the past couple of weeks. Especially as an advertising and public relations major, nearly all of my professors have said that for a better chance at success in this field, it’s best that I graduate with at least one internship under my belt.
There’s no question that the job market is at a historical low, and the market for internships is no exception. To illustrate, Citadel, a financial services company, reported that “applications were up 65% from last year, and that it accepted less than 1%, or about 300 of the 69,000 applications it received, to this summer’s program.”
It’s discouraging as a student to apply to multiple internships a day, only to receive the same automatic rejection email or get ghosted altogether. I know I’m not alone when I say the latter has been more frequent in my internship hunting journey.
I felt an immense weight lifted off my shoulders when I finally received an internship offer from a marketing firm. This internship was a dream opportunity: a chance for me to gain experience alongside industry professionals in communications and business strategy. It seemed too good to be true. It wasn’t long until my biggest nightmare came true, and I realized that it was.
I came across this company the way most college students would in this day and age: through LinkedIn. The company called itself a marketing firm that “challenged the status quo” and “doesn’t just dream big, but delivers.” Naturally, I was excited at the prospect of joining a company with values as strong and competitive as these. I was lucky enough to catch the job posting at a good time — only six other people had clicked apply when I saw the listing. It’s rare to come across a listing that doesn’t already have over 100 applicants, so I thought this gave me a fair chance at scoring an interview.
I was right. Within a couple of days, I received a text message inviting me to a Zoom interview the following day. In hindsight, I can already see the multiple red flags. But when you’re a desperate college student eager to gain relevant experience, the warning signs are easy to look past.
The first round interview didn’t show signs of anything strange or abnormal. It was a group interview with participants from different parts of the U.S. who were around the same age as me. The proctor asked standard interview questions such as “What sets you apart from the other candidates?” and “What are your biggest strengths?” We went around and answered each question consecutively. It was nerve-wracking but all-around normal.
The following day, I attended a Her Campus meeting and talked to a friend about the opportunity. I showed her the company’s LinkedIn profile, website, and the ominous text messages they had sent me. As I showed her their different media channels, the realization that everything being said was incredibly vague slowly dawned on me. Although their LinkedIn profile had a couple of hundred followers, it contained zero associated members. While the website outlined its mission as “challenging the status quo,” it didn’t explain exactly how it did that. Plus, they were using text messages instead of email to contact me. My friend was quick to point out all this.
Immediately, I rushed to the company’s defense, saying they could be a startup, how LinkedIn removes fake profiles, and that the proctor asked legitimate questions. I reopened the listing to find that now over 100 people had applied to the position. I didn’t think there was a chance that a company could be taking advantage of all these people.
As if the company was inside my head, noting my suspicions, I suddenly got a call from them. They congratulated me for passing the first round interview and invited me to a second interview early the next morning. I warily agreed, my friend watching me with genuine concern.
The second round interview was one-on-one, but similar to the first. The interviewer told me that the third and final round would be a phone call with the company’s CEO. About two days had passed until I received this phone call and was offered the internship.
The second the call ended with the company’s CEO, a strange feeling came over my stomach. I couldn’t place what it was exactly, but something felt off. I began to assess the facts. The copy on their media channels was incoherent, no one on LinkedIn was associated with the company, and the turnaround was suspiciously quick. Not to mention, this phone call took place at 8:35 at night. Either the standards for professionalism had changed overnight, or I was the victim of a pyramid scheme.
I decided to call the best FBI agent I know — my mom. We immediately began our investigation, scouring the Internet for any information about this questionable organization. After an hour of unsuccessful digging, we finally came across a Reddit thread that confirmed the suspicion I had been hiding deep down this entire time.
One Reddit user posted that a direct marketing scam was taking place in the Orlando area, specifically targeting UCF students. The user listed some names that the companies go by, except the name of my company was nowhere on the list. Nonetheless, I began to scroll through the thread to find one comment that detailed their situation with one of these companies that was almost identical to mine. The user mentioned two rounds of interviews, with the final one being over the phone. They mentioned the same pay I was offered, with the same promise that I can “grow quickly within the company.” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but a link to a cryptic office building from the company’s email affirmed that this company was neither legitimate nor reputable.
I felt disappointed, ashamed, and embarrassed. I felt dumb for getting excited about an opportunity that was a fabrication. I felt angry for the other college students who applied and were looking to get their foot in the door of this competitive industry.
I knew I wasn’t alone. According to the Better Business Bureau’s 2023 Scam Tracker Risk Report study, employment scams remained the No. 1 riskiest scam type for ages 18-34. The report also shows that for the first time since 2022, college-aged students experienced a higher median dollar loss in scams than other age groups. On LinkedIn specifically, over 142 million spam or scam incidents were detected on the site in the first half of 2024 alone. The data makes it safe to assume that college-aged students were the target in the majority of these circumstances.
But after the rain, there is always a rainbow. Not long after experiencing the letdown from my previous situation, I received an internship opportunity from a reputable company that I will start this summer. I was able to apply the lesson I learned from this situation to identify a company that meant what it said and took a genuine interest in what I could bring to the company.
Use my story as a cautionary tale to be wary of companies that actively take advantage of people, especially college students. This experience reminded me to always listen to my gut and trust that better experiences are ahead. I urge you to locate resources to help you identify potential scams and implore others to do the same. If it weren’t for the Reddit thread I stumbled upon, I would likely be in a situation that is nearly impossible to escape from. Luckily, I’m onto bigger and better things.