The Internet is a powerful tool for job searching, but its power can also put you and your privacy at risk.

From phishing scams, to spoof e-mails, and even money transfer fraud, job seekers are a prime target for Internet fraudsters.

According to the Consumer Sentinel, a report published by the Federal Trade Commission, there were 5,932 complaints of fraud in 2007 in the area of employment, with 64% stemming from Internet fraud. 

Money transfer scams is a popular type of fraud hitting job seekers, according to Alison Preszler, a spokesperson for the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

“The money transfer scams we see more often are the mystery shopping ones,” said Preszler, pointing to one unnamed company that posted help wanted-ads on Craigslist and CareerBuilder.com asking for secret shoppers to test money transfer service MoneyGram.

According to Preszler, the company sent checks to people who signed up and told them to wire part of the check to someone in Canada using MoneyGram and keep $300 as payment. 

The scam: The checks were counterfeit, and once the money was wired out of the account, it couldn't be recovered, leaving victims short the money. 

Many people don't understand how check holds work. While your bank may put a five business day hold on a deposited check, that doesn't mean the check actually cleared from the writer's account. It just means the money is made available in your account.

According to the BBB, work-at-home scams have also popped up on the Internet. These scams require the victim to buy instruction manuals and supplies to build certain items for a company. Once the work is completed the company denies the worker payment saying the items do not meet quality standards.

There are many variations on the work-at-home scam, from building doll houses and assembling bracelets to stuffing envelopes and processing data, Preszler said.

Preszler pointed to one company that recently put help-wanted ads out for a medical record processing position, where the potential employees paid $195 upfront for training.

“You shouldn’t have to really pay anything upfront to a company,” she said. “That’s a huge red flag.”

Phising scams, which use e-mail to try and glean personal information also target job seekers. According to Tabatha Marshall, the founder and CEO of PhishBucket.org, phishers could be getting e-mail addresses right off of job sites. 

In fact, Marshall did her own experiment by posting public profiles on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com and saw phishing messages make their way into her e-mail shortly after.

It’s such a problem that Monster.com, a popular Internet job posting Web site, created a Fraud Prevention Team, which operates 24 hours a day, screening fraudulent employers and job postings. Patrick Manzo, chief privacy officer at Monster.com, said there have been cases where job seekers will think they are applying to a company only to find out the help wanted ad or e-mail was fake.

“We are aware that criminals do attempt to use our brand, as well as many other well-known brands on fraudulent ‘spoofed’ e-mails,” said Manzo at Monster.com.

Some experts warn against making your resume public on Internet job sites even if it would reach more potential employers. 

“I don’t think anyone should post their resume publicly anywhere, anytime,” said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. She said, you’re better off keeping the resume private and releasing it only to companies you’re interested in.

But if you are posting your resume online, like millions do, Preszler of the BBB said not to include any sensitive information like a Social Security number or bank account number. If you do get an e-mail from a potential employer, do some research on the company first online and check it out with the BBB to be sure they're legitimate, she said.