may feel a heightened pressure to land a job no matter what - and that vulnerable position means they're less likely to catch a scam.

 It's a lot easier for someone to be in that stressful, panicked mode, to miss some of those red flags, especially because some of them are so subtle,  Terry said.  We know that that is what scammers are doing. They're preying on that emotion. They're looking for people who are in that place with a heightened sense of  I really need this.' 

 Task-based  scams in particular are on the rise, said Mel Lanning, executive director of the Better Business Bureau's Institute for Marketplace Trust. Scammers may send you an official-seeming check for mandatory job equipment. The  team  on which you're supposedly being hired needs you to deposit the check and then transfer them the funds. But, as people discover way too late in the process, the check is in fact fraudulent - and the candidate is out the money.

Be ultra-wary of any hiring process that seems  too good to be true,  Lanning advised. If a supposed hiring manager is asking for extremely personal information very early in the process, take the time to research the company and confirm its legitimacy. If you're concerned someone is either impersonating a hiring manager or spoofing a firm's actual posting, Lanning recommends going the extra mile to verify a job listing on the company website or even contacting them over email.

 It's a really hard time for job seekers because, number one, you have to be careful of these scams, and then you're also wasting time on some of these postings and then you never hear back,  she said.  For job seekers right now, be very thoughtful and careful about every job that you apply for.