Ads appearing in help-wanted sections of newspapers and offering high-paying wildlife jobs with the federal government can look like the opportunity of a lifetime. But according to the Federal Trade Commission, if you call a toll-free number about these “federal jobs,” you are more likely to get a high-pressure sales pitch and an attempt to have you shell out $80 for job-related information.

If you really want a list of wildlife jobs in your area, as well as practice tests to help you pass the civil service exam, get the information from the U.S. Postal Service. No civil service exam is required for most government wildlife jobs and very few wildlife jobs hire at the entry level. The ad alluded to above was selling a list of job descriptions, not actual openings, and the information the company is selling is available free of charge.

The wildlife jobs ad hardly was an isolated incident. Federal and postal job scams are among the biggest rackets on the employment front, preying on consumers who are unemployed or underemployed and who can least afford to be taken.

By placing ads in the help-wanted classifieds section of local newspapers, the companies deceptively imply the jobs are available and hiring locally. The deception continues in the sales pitch consumers get when they call a company’s toll-free telephone number for more information. In addition, the companies often deceptively imply that applicants who purchase their materials improve their chances of being hired. The companies prey on a general lack of understanding about the federal hiring process. While it’s not illegal for a company to sell information about federal jobs, it is illegal to misrepresent what’s being offered and the benefit to consumers.

In another scam example, a woman called a company’s toll-free number to find out about advertised park ranger jobs in Colorado and bought the information packet for $39. Although she declined the company’s pitch for postal job materials, she received them anyway, along with an unauthorized charge for them on her credit card statement.

When these and other victims realized they’d been taken and called the companies for the refund guaranteed if they were not hired for one of the advertised jobs, their calls were transferred to a voice-mail “black hole.”

Consumers never have to pay for information about job vacancies with the U.S. government or the U.S. Postal Service. Federal agencies and the Postal Service never charge application fees or guarantee an applicant will be hired. Although the Postal Service requires applicants to take a test, it typically offers sample questions and study materials free and no one can guarantee a person will get any particular score on the postal entrance exams or that a high score will guarantee them a job.

Information on postal jobs is available in post offices. In many areas, the Postal Service offers a job information hotline with current hiring announcements. Information about other federal jobs is available from the Office of Personnel Management’s USAJOBS telephone information system. For the telephone number in your area, check the Office of Personnel Management telephone listing, under U.S. Government. You also can find information about jobs with the Postal Service at www.usps.gov and jobs with the federal government at www.usajobs.opm.gov

Consumer Forum is a collaborative effort of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT. Send questions to Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, Maine 04402-1329. COMBAT is a nonprofit organization with annual dues of $10. For membership information, write to the above address.