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Job phishing: How to protect yourself from employment scams

Job phishing – using fraudulent job adverts to scam genuine jobseekers – is on the rise. Here, we look at how fraudsters operate and the steps you can take to protect yourself.

What Is Job Phishing? 

Job phishing refers to recruitment/employment scams where fraudsters pose as recruitment agents or reputable companies.

The fraudsters post fake job adverts and information about their businesses on fake websites and social accounts. But they even post on legitimate job websites.

They use a range of different media – from job adverts to emails and letters – and even set up fake job interviews to lure victims in. These fake positions are often “dream jobs”, with high salaries, great career opportunities and often the chance for overseas work. But all is not what it may seem.

Each scam is designed to prey on victims’ hopes in order to extract money and personal details from them. Fraudsters then use those details to steal a victim’s identity and spend their money. Some scammers have even gone as far as taking out loans in their victims’ names.

Who? 

Action Fraud reports that job seekers aged between 18 and 24 are the most likely to be targeted by job scams. Victims lose around £4,000 on average.

Many of those targeted are young people looking for their first job and are particularly allured to the exciting prospects conjured by fraudsters.

But it isn’t just young people being targeted. A Safer Jobs survey found 98% of people would apply for a job, despite any suspicions around its legitimacy.

Example 

Here’s an example of how these scams typically work, although there are variations:

• The victim places their CV or personal details on internet job sites for potential employers to see, or the victim responds to a fictitious job advert on a fake website that looks like the real thing.
• The victim is then contacted by someone claiming to be an employer or an employer’s agent to say they are being considered for a position.
• They are then asked to complete a questionnaire, attend a phone interview, or are referred to the bogus employer’s website for further information.
• A job offer is then received.

The next part of the scam involves fees or costs incurred by the victim. For example:

• If the fake job was advertised as being overseas, the fraudsters then contact the victim about arranging travel, accommodation and visas. Many victims are then referred to a fake agency website to transfer fees.
• More fees are requested, such as for accommodation deposits. The fraudsters may also ask for bank account details to set up salary payments.
• Some fraudsters may even ask the victim to pay a fee in order to apply for a job.

In reality, all the money goes to the fraudsters and no arrangements are made on behalf of the victim for travel, accommodation etc.

Some common aspects of these scams include:

• Victims are asked for one or more fees.
• The ‘hiring’ process almost always happens remotely.
• The job offers and the employers seem too good to be true.

Ways To Protect Yourself 

There are number of ways that people can protect themselves against the threat of falling victim to job phishing scams. These include:

• Make sure that your CV sells your skills to a potential employer but doesn’t provide too much personal information.
• Be suspicious of the use of popular free platform email addresses being used by an employer or agent, e.g. @yahoo or @hotmail @gmail.
• Check correspondence for poor grammar and spelling – this is a common signal of online fraud.
• Check official records on websites, e.g. companies house or overseas registries to confirm the business/organisation making the job offer actually exists. Contact real organisations directly through officially listed contact details to confirm the job’s authenticity.
• If the job being offered is overseas, check with the embassy representing that country how to obtain a visa and how much it costs and check this information against the information supplied by the potential employer.
• Inform the employer that you will make your own travel and accommodation arrangements and beware if they try to dissuade you from doing so or say that you must use the agency they’ve referred you to.
• Use recruitment fraud information websites if you are suspicious or believe that you may have fallen victim to recruitment fraud. For example, see Jobs Aware, or Action Fraud.

What Next? 

If you have fallen victim to job phishing:

• Firstly, stop all communication with the fraudster immediately. Make a note of their details and report it to Action Fraud as soon as possible.
• Contact the bank immediately if you have sent fraudsters any money, and don’t carry out any further transactions.
• Inform the website where the advert was found that their site is being used by fraudsters.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

These types of scams exploit the hopes of those people legitimately seeking work or a change of job/career and can lead to these people losing thousands of pounds. They also waste time, destroy hopes and can even lead people to quit existing work.

Legitimate job boards and websites should be more thorough in screening what is posted by potential employers. This includes being more alert to danger signs and removing scam adverts on their discovery. You should then report any examples you find.

Jobseekers should approach adverts with a healthy dose of scepticism and carry out research. All should be wary of positions that require “fees” or seem out of the ordinary. Above all, remember –things appearing to be too good to be true often are exactly that.

For more information on how to keep your business safe from scams, speak to the SMY IT Services team on 01473 557203.