NEW YORK– Between finding vacancies, sending your resume and applying for a job, looking for a job is difficult. Now a growing trend of scammers impersonating recruiters makes it even more difficult.
Job fraud has increased in the past year, according to Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers when their identities are compromised.
As most job seekers turn to online platforms to find work, scammers are posing as companies and recruiters to trick people into giving them money or personal information.
“We’ve really seen tremendous growth in job fraud,” Velasquez said. “I think this is just down to the fact that we have fundamentally changed the way we recruit and hire.”
It happened to Tehseen Islam, a 28-year-old quality assurance analyst. She had been looking for a job for a few months when she finally got an offer from a well-known marketing technology company. Or at least she thought so.
After a week-long process, including an online form with screening questions, Islam was offered the job and received a check. She was asked to deposit it and send the company $1,000 to pay for shipping the equipment she needed for the job.
A few days later, her bank informed her that the check had bounced and because it appeared she was working with scammers, it terminated all banking relationships with her. Then she discovered the job was a scam.
“I’m a little traumatized,” said Islam, who lost the $1,000 and unknowingly shared personal information with scammers.
If you’re looking for a job, here are some recommendations from experts on how to avoid job scammers:
Job fraud is a form of imitation of fraud.
Scammers tend to use the name of an employee of a large company and post a job opening that matches similar positions. A first red flag is that scammers usually try to make the job very attractive, Velasquez said.
“They will be paid very high salaries for somewhat low-skilled work,” she said. “And they often say it’s a 100% remote position because that’s so attractive to people.”
Some scammers post fake jobs, but others reach job seekers directly through direct messages or text messages. If the scammers want to steal your personal information, they may ask you to fill out various forms with information such as your Social Security number and driver’s license information.
The only information a legitimate employer should ask for at the beginning of the process is your skills, your work experience and your contact information, Velasquez said.
Other details generally don’t need to be shared with an employer until you’ve received an offer.
Whether you’re responding to a job posting or to a recruiter, you should research the company, especially if you haven’t initiated the conversation, Velasquez said.
Fake recruiters often contact job seekers via social media or text messages. If someone contacts you, verify their identity before responding to their message.
Here are a few recommendations as you research the recruiter or company:
— Do not respond to the message immediately.
— Go online and research if the company has current job openings on its official website.
— Research the recruiter’s name and check if the person has a verifiable social media presence.
— If the company has a vacancy on its website, apply directly through the website.
If you receive a message from a recruiter, it is best not to respond unless you know the source is reliable. Whether you are applying for a position or completing a survey, do not click on any links sent to you.
In Islam’s case, the scammers sent her a form with screening questions asking for her personal information.
A common tactic is for scammers to send you a fake signing bonus and then ask you to send some money back, supposedly to cover the costs. This is a way for scammers to steal money from job seekers, said Alvaro Puig, a consumer education specialist at the Federal Trade Commission.
“If you deposit a check and it is counterfeit, your account will show that the money is there. But days later the bank will discover that it was a counterfeit check,” Puig said.
So if you withdraw money from your account and send it to the fake recruiter, the money will come out of your bank account and it will be impossible to get it back.
When searching for jobs through platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, Velasquez recommends being very careful with job postings and recruiters you trust. Although these platforms are reputable and many of their job postings are genuine, the companies cannot verify every job posting. This creates an opportunity for scammers to post fake job vacancies and deceive people.
“Don’t let platforms that you know are legitimate allow other people to borrow that trust,” Velasquez said.
After her experience with job scammers, Islam has become more careful about the job postings she trusts. Now she has a list of steps to follow, including verifying a recruiter’s email through a free email address validator, such as Emailable or Clearout, and calling the company directly.
“This now adds a lot more time to my job search, but I can’t blindly trust that this person is who he says he is,” Islam said.
If you or a family member has been a victim of a scam, it is good practice to report it on the website FTC website.
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