With graduation right around the corner, I’ve noticed that in between worrying about my thesis and trying to cram as much fun and work together as possible, there’s a bit of alarm building up inside me. This isn’t mild anxiety either, but rather pure, unadulterated panic. The cause?

I need to find a job.

This wouldn’t have been a problem if I had just started to worry about it sooner, but for some reason I kept putting it off. It could be that I’m just a horrible procrastinator (true) or that I didn’t want to actually face the fact that I’m graduating (also true), but now I’ve found myself in a bit of a pickle. I knew that I could potentially apply to scores of jobs without even getting a callback, especially since I don’t have a lot of experience.

So imagine my surprise when the very first job I applied for – a posting on Monster.com – resulted in a call the very next morning. I was ecstatic. Not only was it actually a writing job, but it was in my hometown. I replied that I’d be in town the following weekend and promptly made plans to be there for the interview.

But when I got there, I found that the job for which I thought I applied, a copywriter position asking for “”professional editing experience,”” didn’t actually exist. In fact, the company that had posted the job didn’t have any positions like that, simply because it wasn’t actually a company – it was a temp agency.

Now, whether it’s beneficial to register with an employment agency isn’t something I’m going to go into. What made me mad is that the job looked legitimate. It had requirements, a detailed job description and even estimated weekly hours. I thought that I was driving home to apply for an actual job, not adding my information to a temp agency’s resume folder. I was completely bamboozled.

Unfortunately, employment agencies that post fake jobs aren’t as rare as one might hope. Even worse, this isn’t the only scam out there waiting to trap vulnerable job seekers. Like almost anywhere in the virtual world, identity thieves lurk on online job Web sites looking for information they can use to make a profit. Some post jobs that ask you to scan your driver’s license and e-mail it to them, hoping to get your vitals. Others say that they need your Social Security number for a background check or other information in order to make sure that you’re “”qualified.”” Even still, others simply take your contact information off of your resume and sell it to the highest bidder. Besides identity thieves, there are a variety of scams designed around getting you to pay them money. Some of these are fairly clever, telling you that you need to pay to see federal job postings or having you book trips through a phony agency for a phony interview.

“”College students may be more susceptible to these fake job postings since it is the first time they are accessing these types of sites,”” said Warren King, president of the Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania.

So what can you do to avoid scams? First of all, research the company posting the job. Do they have a street address? Does your contact use a Gmail or Yahoo! Mail rather than a company e-mail address? Do a Google search – does the company look legitimate? It’s also important to refuse to give out any unnecessary personal information. A real company won’t ask for your Social Security number until they’ve hired you, and a Web site shouldn’t either. It doesn’t hurt to keep your Social Security number and date of birth off your resume. And be careful of any job opportunity that requires you to give money; you’re only interested in jobs that give you money, after all.

And some job-oriented Web sites are better than others. Collegejournal.com and Jobcentral.com are two recommended sites. But if you’re still weary (a reasonable state to be in), just contact companies yourself. Call them up, ask to speak to a human resources representative, and explain that you’re a recent college grad wondering if there are any entry-level positions in your field. The worst that could happen is that they say no. Not only is this safer, but it is also more likely to get results. Some companies don’t post their jobs in easy-to-find places, and calling may be the only way to find them.

But if worst comes to worst and you do get stuck in a scam, you have a chance to enact the ultimate revenge. Do what I did: Report them to the Federal Trade Commission or the Better Business Bureau. They may have tricked you, but that doesn’t mean they have to trick everyone else too. After all, we’re all in this together.