How to protect yourself from scammers offering fake jobs

NEW YORK —  Between finding openings, sending out your resume and interviewing, looking for a job is tough. Now a growing trend of scammers impersonating recruiters is making it even harder.
In the last year, job scams have been on the rise, according to Eva Velasquez, president and chief executive of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps consumers when their identities are compromised.
Because most job seekers turn to online platforms for employment, scammers impersonate companies and recruiters to trick people into giving them money or personal information.
“We’ve really seen tremendous growth in job scams,” Velasquez said. “I think that’s just due to the fact that we fundamentally changed the way we recruit and hire people.”
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 she did.
After a weeklong process that included an online form with interview 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 shipment of equipment she’d need for the job.
A few days later, her bank notified her that the check had bounced and, because it looked like she was cooperating with scammers, it was ending all banking relationships with her. That’s when she learned 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 a job seeker, here are some recommendations from experts on how to avoid job scammers:
Job scams are a type of impersonation scam.
Scammers tend to use the name of an employee from a large company and craft a job posting that matches similar positions. An initial red flag is that scammers usually try to make the job very appealing, Velasquez said.
“They’re going to have very high salaries for somewhat low-skilled work,” she said. “And they’re often saying it’s a 100% remote position because that’s so appealing to people.”
Some scammers post fake jobs, but others reach out directly to job seekers through direct messages or texts. If the scammers are looking to steal your personal information, they may ask you to fill out several forms that include information such as your Social Security number and driver’s license details.
The only information a legitimate employer should ask for at the beginning of the process are your skills, your work experience and your contact information, Velasquez said.
Other details don’t generally need to be shared with an employer until after you’ve received an offer.
Whether you’re replying to a job posting or a recruiter, you must research the company, especially if you didn’t initiate the conversation, Velasquez said.
Fake recruiters often contact job seekers through social media or text messages. If someone reaches out to you, verify their identity before responding to their message.
Here are a few recommendations while you research the recruiter or the company:
If you receive a message from a recruiter, it’s best to not respond unless you know that the source is reputable. Avoid clicking on any links sent to you, whether to apply for a position or to fill out a questionnaire.
In Islam’s case, the scammers sent her a form with interview screening questions where they asked 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 expenses. This is a way for scammers to steal money from job seekers, said Alvaro Puig, consumer education specialist at the Federal Trade Commission.
“If you deposit a check and it’s fake, your account will show the money is there. But then days later, the bank will discover that it was a fake check,” Puig said.
So, if you take out money from your account and send it to the fake recruiter, the money will be coming from your bank account and it will be impossible to get it back.
When job hunting through platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed, Velasquez recommends being very cautious with job openings and recruiters you trust. Although these platforms are reputable and many of their job postings are real, the companies cannot verify every employment opportunity posted. This creates an opportunity for scammers to post fake job listings and trick 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 been more careful with the job openings she trusts. Now, she has a list of steps she follows, including verifying a recruiter’s email through a free email address validator, such as Emailable or Clearout, and calling the company directly.
“This is adding a lot more time to my job search now, but I can’t just blindly trust that this person is who they say they are,” Islam said.
If you or a family member is a victim of a scam, it’s good practice to report it on the FTC’s website.
Morga writes for the Associated Press.