con artists

What are some signs to look out for to tell who's a con artist? My brother got taken in by one recently and lost his job over the whole thing. And I start my new job on Sat and I do not want to make the same mistake. What are some signs I can look for?

Sorry your brother got taken in by a con artist =( You should be leery of fast-talkers and those who are vague/unclear of the things they are telling/promising you, or if they just tell you what you want to hear. Always try to get things in writing.

I would be suspicious of anything that comes out of the blue sounding too good to be true.

I can offer you some advice since I am involved in running a firm -
1) Always, always get things in writing. It covers everything like your job description, your pay grade, your terms of employment, your salary including your allowances and bonuses, your contractual obligations, the company's contractual obligations and your terms for resignation.
2) Never join without receiving an offer letter. It is more of a contract between you and the employer. Your offer letter must be in the company letterhead.
3) Check if there is uniformity in the brand identity. For example, check if the web address, the email signature and your offer letter have the same logo, the same company name and the same registered address.
4) Your recruitment process must have a well documented procedure. Be wary if you were recruited without even an interview. Usually there will be at least two rounds, where there will be one round of interview with your line manager.
5) Make sure that you possess the skills for the role that you are being hired for. Make sure that this role is clearly documented in your offer letter. Don't accept the offer if they promise you something verbally but don't document it in your offer letter.
6) Last of all, verify the firm from third-party sources. There are sites like Linkedin and Glassdoor where you can search for what people are saying about your firm. If it is a small firm then you may not find much info there. But make sure you at least visit their website.

If you are at work and get a phone call asking for cards that require putting money on, hang up. I have seen this where we live,people lost their jobs for telling what register they are at, how many of a certain cards they have, the numbers on them, ect. also telling you, you have won something,or a letter in the mail. trash it or even look it up on the internet and you can see
it is a scam. Your manager at work should handle all the business stuff.

On the door to door and phone offers, I always ask for literature that I can look up and never make a decision until I do.