The internet has revolutionized the job search and hiring processes and now, applicants no longer have to travel miles, or walk around their cities in a search for a job.
Employers, likewise, no longer have to display posters and deface cities, use placards and pay extortionate fees for traditional media ads to be seen by the best talents.
Now, we can all sit and apply for our dream jobs from the comfort of our beds! Hiring managers can now utilize digital tools to publicize, sort, invite, interview, hire and even manage the best fits for their openings.
Amazing! Isn’t it? Of course it is. But… with this great opportunity comes a risk; the problem of fraud. The job hunt process is already a lot in itself. Despite the tools that technology provides us, Job-seekers are still subjected to constant internet surf-searching, applications, long commutes, money and time spent in attending interviews with no assurance of getting a job, endless waiting periods in office receptions, the sighs, the disappointments; it can be a really trying experience. Fake openings, frauds and scams makes it no easier.
Advertisements
At Recruitment Trust we detest fraudulence, and most especially job scams. Recruitment Trust was born out of a vision eliminate the bridge that emanates between job seekers and employees and this, we do by combining high-end technology with deep-rooted and vast experience, thereby eliminating the frustrating- and often very harmful- fraudulent scams in the job market.
That’s why we double-verify every single job and company before it’s posted on our site: to help job seekers stay safe and avoid job search scams.
But in the words of Alan Greenspan “…Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.’’
So, we figured the other best way to protect our community of jobseekers aside our in-built security protocols are to provide them with the needed knowledge to spot these criminal elements and either report them for swift action or just avoid them.
So, we took our time to prepare this article, to arm you with the needed information on how to identify and avoid fake job opportunities.
Knowing how to differentiate legitimate work opportunities from harmful ones is the best way to protect yourself in your search for a remote job.
As you find and consider job ads and offers, here are warning signs to look for to avoid falling victim to a scam. But, before we go on, what are scam jobs and why do they exist in the first instance?
Simply put, Scam Jobs are fake or unreal job opening put out in an attempt to deceive and defraud or harm. It could be totally non-existent jobs or existent ones twisted and manipulated to make a false representation.
Some of the reasons why these perpetrators list them include:
a. To defraud of money
Fraudsters understand that job seekers are committed to being gainfully employed and therefore sometimes “desperate’’, So they take advantage of their desperation, publish a fake job, and request payment for access to these jobs.
b. To capture humans for rituals/organ harvesting/ human trafficking
As unscientific as it sounds, this is a stark reality in several parts of the world, ours especially.
Misguided individuals who either work as agents for human traffickers, organ harvesting syndicates or diabolic who believe human body parts grant political or economic powers, publish post fake jobs and then lure unsuspecting innocent job seekers to weird locations for supposed interviews.
c. To harvest emails and sensitive information.
Some people post fake jobs, where applicant are required to entered their details, just to get the emails of people and other information they consider relevant. Sometimes, this is because they intend to market a product or service to the people that they have harvested their emails without authorization, other times, they sell these email list to third or other parties.
Never divulge personal and financial information on the phone, email or over the internet until you have done due diligence on the company’s reputation and marketplace record, and are comfortable with the company’s privacy protection policies. However, be aware that some of these scam organizations may even give out false references, so make sure your sources are trustworthy and reliable
d. To get people to join their sales pyramid/multi-level marketing schemes.
Many fraudulent-minded people that are involved with multi-level marketing and sales pyramid schemes, always lookout for different ways to get people to join them. The more people that are registered under them the higher their rank and the money they eventually get.
These people know the unwillingness of people to join them, so they employ tricks to deceitfully get people to join them.
Despite the particular reason why people post fake jobs, one critical underlying reason is the “desire to deceive’’ either for economic gain or otherwise.
So, ultimately, how do we determine there’s something wrong with a job? Here is a few signs to look out for;
1. Unsolicited job offer
Finding a job is mostly procedural. Employers publish an opening, jobseekers find it, and when interested apply for the job, when the employer finds the candidate qualified or interesting, then you will be invited for an interview, after the interview you get to know whether or not you got the job.
If a job is offered without even applying for it, then it is most likely case of a scam. Often-times, you may be contacted via mail, SMS, or a phone call, and informed that your resume is shortlisted and only a brief chat over the messenger is required to secure the job. If you come across such offers, ask for additional information about the role and the company to know for sure that it is not a scam.
For example:
You have been invited for a job briefing/interview at street 1 2 3 4… Contact xyz on 081xxxxxxxxx with Ref no. 0000.”
2. High pay, low work; Too good to be true.
‘’If it seems too good to be true, it probably is’’
Unknown.
Everyone desires the bests; in their career, families, finances… all round!
For some, it is a desire for improvement, for others, it becomes greed.
Well, fraudsters understand the human desire for improvement of its well-being and of course, his greed too, and capitalizes on both.
When you receive a job offer that you most likely do not qualify for, in terms of skills, experience, certification, etc. that offer attractive, almost unbelievable 6 figures, it is an offer that should be examined critically.
Though, some firms and multi-nationals offer great remuneration and compensation packages, but those kinds of offers come with series and different stages of interviews. Most fake jobs do not require you to pass through different interview stages.
For example:
‘’Earn over $10, 000 per month, working for only 2-3 hours daily.’’
It is to be noted that the very competitive nature of the offering is bait you into clicking on the job advert and finally apply for the job. From this job advert, you do not know what you are going to be doing, what the job/company is all about. The only thing they tell you is how much you will make.
If you are faced job adverts of this nature, do thorough research on the offering organization, if it does not yield positive outcome, disengage.
3. Requests for Credit card or other financial sensitive information
This is top red light behavior! Except you have opted for a paid service, employers do not require your financial sensitive details, and whether this request is made only or physically, it is against all standard practices and is most likely an ongoing avoidable scam.
However, if such information is made mandatory while registering yourself, know that you are out rightly being defrauded. Never give out such data and disengage immediately.
4. Requests for sensitive personal information
Confidential information such as social security number, bank account details, or other personal details is not required by our company or employer. If any site or supposed employers asks for such info, you might be getting scammed.
5. There is unusual urgency in there for you to act
If you get this kind of sudden invite, and they are dishing out instructions and prompting you to act very quickly, then you have to be careful, because it is most likely to be a scam. Legitimate Companies may chase a high-profile professional, but it is most unlikely for such Professional not to physically have come in contact with those firms.
6. Asking for payment for placements
While fraudulent individuals within an organization can connive to extort from prospective applicant for a real job opportunity, this is mostly the tactics of scammers. Companies usually outsource the candidate identification process to third party companies. For this, such third party companies are paid a service fee as well. However, there is no company that assures the placements of candidates without the interview process. Such a scam is a common occurrence for overseas placements. Be careful if anyone approaches you with offers for placement in exchange for money or need you to pay for a tool or gadget you need to perform your job.
These kinds of ‘’employers’’ make mouth-watering offers you a job on a platter, then they introduce a condition they believe you would be able to afford because they know you would love to keep that job at any cost.
The truth is legitimate companies do not ask you for money or anything. Whatever software or gadget that you would need to perform your task would be given to you. So you have to beware if an employer is asking you for something.
For example, you might get a message like this:
“Congratulations, your interview went well and you are now a staff of ABC company. To help you work well we got you a brand new laptop, but as a part of the company culture, you would have to pay 5000 for the headset you need to function as customer support personnel. You can send the money to XYZ…”
7. No specific/vague job requirement or description
In their desperate attempt to create a “faux’’ legitimacy, fraudsters create job requirements aimed at creating an impression of confidence or disbelief in the victim.
They can either make the requirements so ridiculously simple (to lure the victim into believing its either an easy to get job) or exorbitantly high (to create an impression it is an elite job opening) depending on the victim they are targeting.
When they are targeting a large segment of people, they make the job requirements ridiculously and almost unbelievably simple, such that almost everyone qualifies.
For example:
- You must be young (no age limit)
- Must be able to communicate in any language (anyone can communicate at least in one language)
- Must have access to the internet (almost everyone has internet access, and of course, you wouldn’t have gotten their email if you did not have access to the internet! Right?).
- Must be a citizen.
- The job requirements did not list any years of education, skills or experience. Almost as a rule of thumb, if it’s a real job, the requirements will be quite specific, for the simple reason that no Hiring Managers wants the whole world spamming them.
When job seekers enquire for a job description or list of job duties, the interviewer either ignores the questions or they get responses as, “You will be trained on the job.”
8. Unprofessional email from a company
Most legitimate and verifiably genuine companies have their company domain email e.g. [email protected].
Scam companies mostly do not have the resources, nor do they want to go through the troubles and commitment of creating a company domain email, they rather use the general one (mostly Gmail or Yahoo mail).
Asides email addresses, fraudster, generally, do not take time to compose their emails, so you will find loads of grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors in their emails.
In a job offer email, look for inconsistencies in grammar, syntax and how the employer or recruiter communicates with you in writing. If it feels more than a little unprofessional, consider researching the position further and find out more about the company.
A legitimate company will hardly send an email that is full of errors when they have staff members assigned to carry out the task.
If you receive an email with these kinds of errors, then it is most likely a scam email.
For example:
We has seen your application and you are hereby you have been invited for an interview by the CEO of the company. You can call us on 081xxxxxx.
For this example, you can notice the following mistakes:
- They are no introductions
- “human resources” (this should be Human Resources)
- “You have been invited for an interview by the CEO of the company” (the right punctuation mark is missing in this sentence).
- “The human resources have seen” (this should be in the past tense, the human resources has seen).
9. If you cannot find any useful information about the company online.
In addition to unprofessional communication, many fake job opportunities tend to have missing contact information or vague details about the organization. If you notice the company’s information is missing, try an internet search to find a company website or email address. If you still cannot find basic information about the company’s location, staff members or other details, you may want to continue onto your next opportunity.
Some fraud companies create their website, but notwithstanding, if the information you find on their platform is scanty or does not add up then it may likely be a scam.
10. If you asked to give out your personal information
This one of the most obvious warning signs. When an employer contacts you and asks you for personal information such as your account number, your ATM pin, or other personal information, then you should be careful.
We know that a legitimate employer can ask you to provide some personal details, but that should be when you have been given an offer or during your training period. Asking for personal information at the beginning stages of the recruitment process should be one of the fraud signs you should look out for.
11. Getting interviewed via a messaging service
Remote interviews, collaborations and working are very popular, and in fashion, (phone and video interviews), however, professional recruiters still have to follow some basic guidelines.
If a company is asking you for an interview via a messaging/chat service, then that organization is being unprofessional. No professional organization will ask to interview you via a chat service. So when you are asked to be interviewed via chat, then you need to do your research and look out for scam alerts.
How to always be on the alert for scam jobs
- Check for known or popular “red flags”
Scams usually contain certain common “red flags” that can alert you to a potential fraudulent job. These include misspellings or grammatical errors in job ads, or a contact email address that is not the primary domain of the organization. For example, a job ad that uses a [email protected] email address should raise immediate concerns.
Other clues that a job may not be legitimate include ads that require payments before access is granted to or offering you the jobs advertised. A legitimate job should be paying you for what you are worth, in terms of your experience and contribution- as opposed to you paying upfront for the career opportunity.
- Be careful of jobs that request your bank account information.
There are some types of job scams in which the applicant is asked to accept payment to his or her bank account. These payment-transfer scams usually involve a criminal who pretends to be an employer, and uses fake job ads to lure unsuspecting job seekers and extract personal details and information from them.
- Post your resume anonymously
The increasing danger of identity theft or someone posing as an employer to gain an applicant’s personal data are good reasons to post an anonymous resume. Many criminals target genuine job hunters and obtain their personal particulars through fraud with the purpose to spam them with business opportunities – which are more often than not; fictitious and illegal pyramid marketing schemes.
Avoid including your home address, phone number or date of birth on resumes that you post publicly, in case identity thieves abuse the information available to create fake credit cards or take out loans.
- Check with reliable sources
When a suspicious offer is received, reach and verify the firm’s reliability, credibility and complaint record and even, existence! with friends or contacts from the industry or seek advice from other reliable third party resources, such as The Chamber of Commerce or institute bodies. You can also check for the supposed organization’s website and confirm the identity of the hirer reaching out to you.
- Avoid easy money schemes
The work-at-home job market is dominated with scams. It pays to be more skeptical about the lucrative money making opportunities this market promises. If the returns sound too good to be true, most of the time, they probably are. Jobs that gives over the top income claims or ads that do not specify the details and requirements of the job itself should raise a red flag.
- A legitimate job should be clear and precise on the job specifications and responsibilities, instead of relying on heavy marketing and sales copy, success stories, testimonials and hype, which is a trademark of many work-at-home programmes.
- Use the services of a reputable recruitment agency.
There is need for you to seek out and work with a reputable recruitment firm.
One that makes security for both Jobseekers and Employers utmost priority; like Recruitment Trust .
- Protect yourself!
Act cautiously whenever you receive an email which claims to have seen your resume online and invites you to complete the application details online. You should check out the company through your internet browser and contact the organization via telephone to find out if the job offer is genuine.
- If you find an advert you are interested in, research about the company. Find out:
a. If the offering organization even exists! (you can check the CAC website to see if the company exists).
b. If they have staff members working already. Every successful company should have staff members no matter how small (you can search for the company on LinkedIn to see their staff members, you can also use Facebook.
c. Visit their company website and read through to know what product or services they offer.
d. If there are reviews about the company; sometimes the best way to find out about a company is by reading what others (employees and job seekers) have written about the company.
What to do if you are a victim of a job scam
Report to HR organization and Human resources professionals that are enthusiastic about job seekers.
Report to the original company if the fraudster cloned an existing company.
You can also report to the police if you have sufficient information.
Promptly contact the advertiser and request your money back. Let the advertiser know your intention to alert relevant government or business authorities about your experience.
Report the matter to Recruitment Trust Limited via our helpdesk with copies of all correspondence, contact details of the fake organization, and bank or credit card statements if you suspect that your identity may have been stolen for illegal activities so we can either act or escalate to relevant authorities.
If you have disclosed bank details, kindly use e-self-service channels and block your e-channels, or contact your bank to close all bank accounts at the bank where the scam occurred. You may want to consider changing banks in case the criminals attempt to extract your new account information with your previous particulars and details.
Ensure you monitor your credit card reports for any unusual activities.
Close all email addresses that were associated with the job scam to prevent further abuse.
We hope you enjoyed your read and was enlightened as well, if you have contributions, personalized enquiries or kindly contact our Helpdesk through the following channels:
Phone Number | ||
+234 807 605 2845 | [email protected] |
Author- Chukwu Chinatu-Ikem
is an Economist, Researcher, Econometrist, Human Resource Expert, Business Developer and Writer who is committed to solving real problems, for real people and in real-time. His focus is on excellence in corporate service delivery.