I’ve written recently about a new job scam where someone is impersonating a member of our team and approaching job seekers about phony opportunities. Since then, I have seen an explosion of posts on LinkedIn from recruiters or people who are adjacent to the recruitment industry, who are also being impersonated. AI is making it easier than ever for bad actors to run scams at scale, so today I am sharing some tips about how job scams work, how to recognize them, and how you can protect yourself. As scammers and scams become more sophisticated, both job seekers and employers are increasingly at risk.
How Job Scams Work
At their core, job scams trick unsuspecting victims into either giving up access to their sensitive information (bank account details, identity, etc.) or directly sending money to the scammer. Many times, there is little recourse available to help recover lost funds, and combatting identity theft can take years.
More sophisticated scams monitor behavior on your phone, copy passwords, access financial data, filter out email intended to warn you of attempted hacks, and more.
Some common job scams involve:
- Fake remote jobs / work-from-home opportunities – these often offer very high pay for low-skill jobs and/or promises of working very little
- “Task” scams that ask a user to complete tasks like rating products, mystery shopping, or optimizing apps – victims may receive small payments early on to build trust, but are then asked to deposit their own money (often via bitcoin) to access more opportunities
- Reshipping / restocking jobs – Sounds simple enough; you receive packages at home and get paid to repackage them and ship them elsewhere. The trouble is that the items are usually stolen, and you’ve given the scammer your home address. Once you start shipping stolen goods, you are also in legal jeopardy.
- Fake check scams – Victims are asked to purchase equipment or gift cards from particular vendors and will be reimbursed with a check. The check is fake and bounces, which leaves the victim responsible for the cost of the purchase and often unable to recover their funds.
- Advance fee and training scams – Payment required to take a test, purchase software, earn a credential, submit an application, book an interview, or similar—before you receive an offer of employment, let alone start the “new job.” Reputable recruiters and employers never do this.
How to Recognize a Scam
- Watch for poor spelling and grammar, although AI tools mean this is less likely to occur.
- The sender’s email is not the same as the company’s email. In the scam involving our employee, the sender is using an actual employee’s name – but with a Gmail address instead of our domain-branded email, <person>@npaworldwide.com. In other cases, the domain name might be a slight variation – perhaps a different extension (.info instead of .com) or an easy-to-miss spelling error.
- The sender can’t be found in a Google search, or the search results only include social media profiles.
- A job offer comes via text, for a job you never applied for.
- You are asked to send money via bitcoin or wire transfer – neither of which offer good options for recovery.
- You are asked to communicate via WhatsApp or Signal.
- You never speak to anyone in person or even on the phone – most jobs still require an in-person interview of some sort.
- You are asked to provide sensitive personal information – your bank account details, Social Security (or equivalent) number, ID.me login, driver’s license and/or passport, copies of personal documents. While it’s normal to provide this information to verify your eligibility for employment, this should never be required before you are hired.
How to Protect Yourself
- NEVER provide sensitive personal information early on in the hiring process. If you are asked to provide it, stop engaging immediately. Call the alleged employer directly and ask if they are hiring and/or requesting this information.
- Google the person contacting you. Most recruiters have a LinkedIn profile or other online evidence of their business. If you only see social media profiles, that may be a red flag worth further investigating.
- Look up the company’s website and see if the job is listed. Many companies don’t list all of their available jobs online, so this isn’t foolproof, but you should be able to find out if it’s a real company and whether the website matches anything else you have received.
- Don’t agree to interviews on any messaging platforms.
- Don’t purchase anything in advance. If a company needs you to have a particular certification, that will be made clear in an offer letter and often paid for by the employer.
- Do not download or install any unfamiliar apps or software.
- Check this list to see if the recruiter contacting you is on it. Or, if you’re a recruiter who is being impersonated, add yourself to the list.
If You Think You’ve Been Scammed
- Stop engaging immediately.
- Change your passwords.
- Visit the Identity Theft Resource Center.
- Make a report to the Federal Trade Commission (in the US).
- File a report with your local police, attorney general, or labor department
- Contact your national cybercrime unit or fraud hotline. Here is a list of some global agencies.
Scammers will continue to get more sophisticated and new tools will help them scale their efforts. Remain diligent, trust your instincts, and exercise considerable caution when interacting with people claiming to have a job for you. The old truism remains valid: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.