How to save yourself from scammers offering fake jobs : The number of job scams is increasing as con artists pose as recruiters in order to steal money or personal information.

It is recommended that job seekers investigate firms, denounce scams, and avoid from initially giving personal information. Important considerations include checking recruiters and avoiding depositing doubtful cheques. It is advised that incidents be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.

Finding a job is challenging, including locating opportunities, submitting your resume, and going to interviews. It is now becoming more difficult due to a growing trend of scammers posing as recruiters.
Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps people when their identities are exposed, says that job scams have increased in the past year.

Scammers act as businesses and recruiters to take advantage of people of their money or personal information because the majority of job searchers use online job boards.

“We’ve really seen tremendous growth in job scams,” Velasquez stated. “I think that’s just due to the fact that we fundamentally changed the way we recruit and hire people.”

Tehseen Islam, a 28-year-old quality assurance analyst, experienced it. After several months of job searching, she received an offer from a reputable marketing technology company. She believed she did, anyway.

Islam was given a job offer and a check following a week-long process that involved completing an online form with interview screening questions. In order to pay for the shipment of the equipment she would require for the job, she was asked to deposit it and transfer $1,000 to the company.

Her bank informed her a few days later that the check had bounced and that it was terminating all of its financial connections with her since it appeared she was working with scammers. She discovered the job was a scam at that point.

Islam stated, “I’m a little disturbed,” after losing the $1,000 and knowingly providing scammers access to personal information.

Here are some professional tips for job seekers on how to stay away from a job scammers:

Understand how employment scams operate. One kind of impersonation scam is a job scam.

Scammers frequently create a job posting that matches comparable roles and use the identity of a significant company employee. According to Velasquez, scammers typically attempt to make the job seem highly desirable, which is a first warning sign.

“They’re going to have very high salaries for somewhat low-skilled work,” she stated. “And they’re often saying it’s a 100% remote position because that’s so appealing to people.”

While some scammers post fake job openings, others text or message job seekers directly. Scammers may ask you to fill out multiple forms that contain details about your driver’s license and Social Security number if they are trying to steal your personal information.

According to Velasquez, a genuine company should only request your contact details, employment history, and skills at the start of the hiring process.

Generally speaking, you don’t have to tell an employer any other information until you’ve received an offer.

Do some research. Research the company, especially if you didn’t start the interaction, whether you’re responding to a recruiter or a job advertising, Velasquez advised.

Using text messages or social media, fake recruiters frequently reach out to job searchers. Before answering a message from someone, make sure they are who they say they are.

While you investigate the company or the recruiter, consider the following suggestions:

Refrain from answering the message immediately.

Check the company’s official website to see if there are any employment openings right now.

Look up the recruiter’s name and see if they have a credible social media presence.

Apply online through the company’s website if there is a job opening.

Avoid responding or clicking on links. It’s advised to ignore messages from recruiters unless you are certain that the sender is trustworthy.

Don’t click on any links that are sent to you, whether they are to complete a questionnaire or apply for a job.

In Islam’s instance, the con artists requested her personal information on a form that included interview screening questions.

Avoid depositing checks. Scammers frequently use this strategy by sending you a real signing bonus and then requesting money back, purportedly to pay for expenses. Scammers use this to defraud job applicants of their money, according to Federal Trade Commission consumer education specialist Alvaro Puig.

“Your account will indicate that the money is there even if the check you deposited is fake. However, the bank would find out it was a fake cheque a few days later,” Puig stated.

Therefore, if you withdraw funds from your account and transfer them to the bogus recruiter, the funds will come from your bank account and cannot be refunded.

Choose carefully which job openings you trust. Velasquez advises being extremely cautious when looking for a job on sites like Indeed and LinkedIn, as well as when dealing with recruiters you may trust. Companies are unable to confirm that every job opportunity listed on these platforms is valid, even if many of the job posts are genuine. This gives con artists a chance to publish fake job openings and fool others.

“Don’t let platforms that you know are legitimate allow other people to borrow that trust,” Velasquez stated.

Islam has been more cautious about which job openings she believes since her encounter with job scammers. She now follows a set of procedures, which includes calling the company directly and using a free email address validator like Emailable or Clearout to confirm a recruiter’s email.