27/11/2017
Scammy Job Offers: What They Are, How to Recognize Them, and How to Reject Them!
Sometimes we stumble upon job opportunities or offers that seem a little too good to be true, and in today’s culture, it’s always better to play it safe and double check that offer than to be left out in the cold, caught by a job scammer’s nasty tricks.
In the interest of helping you identify fraudulent job offers and avoid job scams, this post will offer you a hand full of tips that may just prove to be your best defense, helping you do your own research and report scammy job offers as soon as you spot them.
6 Red Light Warnings That Indicate You’re Being Scammed
The offer sounds too good to be true. The simple answer here is that when things seem too good to be true, they almost always are. If you didn’t apply for the job in the first place, why in the world would a company be contacting you for the final round of interviews? Remember that scammers troll job boards looking for victims, just like you, innocently looking for jobs. By using the best job aggregators out there, you can play it safe and keep your details off the web.
The “employer” isn’t very professional in his or her correspondence with you. A few scammers out there put some effort into their antics, but most of them are severely unprofessional. REAL companies have professional personnel working in the HR departments, staff that is paid to communicate with prospective employees professionally. Make sure you double check emails for spelling issues, grammar, and capitalization.
Search results aren’t painting a pretty picture. Doing your research before agreeing to an interview is essential. REAL companies have information about their services listed on the internet. You can bet your behind that it’s definitely scamming if you can’t find any information about the company on the web. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that big-time scammers often go into detail, setting up websites for their “businesses,” but looks can sadly be very deceiving. To see if a site is real, head over to the Domain White Pages and then enter the company’s website details into the “IP Address” box. Click the “go” button and then look at the results to see when that site was created. Websites younger than one year are probably fakes.
The hiring manager is asking for confidential information. A lot of scammers have no shame in asking for your banking details, claiming that they need the information to make a direct deposit into your account. Before giving anyone your personal details, make sure that you’re logged on to a secure website. REAL web addresses start with https:// and NOT http://
The company needs you to pay for something before you can start on the job. A legitimate company will never ask you to pay for something. Some scammers tell victims that they need to purchase software or pay for certain services, and this is a major red light. A REAL company will also never ask you to pay for a credit report or give them money to have your CV redone in a more “professional” format.
The “Company” provides you with only one way of contacting them. Some scammers offer their victims only one way of contacting them, one specific number that they should use to get in contact with the company. This can be very dubious, especially if the “company” that contacted you offers nothing more than a Whatsapp number as a line of communication.
Top Examples of Job Scams
The Credit Report Scam
Credit report scams are where victims are targeted by scammers who pose as hiring managers that are interested in interviewing the “victim” for an opening. The only catch is that before the meeting happens, the victim has to fill out a short form to have their credit scores checked. This is where scammers obtain your personal info, everything they need to commit daylight robbery.
Background Check Scams
This scam works in much the same way as the credit report scam, but instead of stealing your personal information, scammers use this ploy to have victims purchase preloaded Visa debit cards and send it over to the “employer” to conduct a background check on them.
Pay for Programs Scam
Some scammers ask victims to set up their own personal Yahoo Messenger accounts so that they can be debriefed on the job at hand and get the interview underway, but there’s a catch. As soon as victims start their IM interviews, they are told that they will need to purchase a program or some sort of software before starting the job, blindsided by the idea of the company eventually reimbursing them once they get the job, something that obviously never happens.
How You Can Avoid Job Scams
It can be hard to tell whether or not a job is actually legitimate, but one of the best ways to avid scammy job offers is to do your research and stay in the loop of what scams are currently trending out there. Never feel pressured to take action, even more so when you have the slightest hinge that you might be a victim of a job scammer. Make sure that you do as much research as possible, and if it turns out to be a scam, report it to the right authorities immediately.
Where You Can Find Help
The SARS anti-fraud division welcomes any and all complaints and reports of fraudulent conduct. You may send an email to [email protected]. Alternatively, the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service offers handy advice and assistance for those that have fallen victim to scams. You may contact them by sending an email to [email protected]. To find out which scammers have been busted in the last ten years, head on over to Scam Busters. The website also has a free scam reporting tool which you may use to notify the authorities of any scam that has been played on you.
