A job scam in simple terms is a job offer that doesn’t exist and is targeted at job seekers with the aim of stealing personal information, obtaining money, deception into joining a sales/multi-level marketing pyramid, or human trafficking/kidnapping.
Scammers know that finding a job can be tough, and as such, to trick job seekers, they advertise where real employers and job placement firms do and make upbeat promises about the chances of employment. However, virtually all of them ask job seekers to pay them for their services before they get a job.
Job scams while having a common theme come in variations, here are a few to keep an eye out for.
E-mailed Job Offer Supposedly from an Employer, Recruiter, or Job Board
This kind of situation occurs when you get a job offer via email which you probably did not apply for. In some cases, they might even do a brief phone interview for you after which you could get quick feedback and congratulatory email saying you got the job role with a juicy monthly salary, but in order to proceed to the onboarding phase, you might be required to pay for a course/training, software, health insurance cover, etc.
Tips to avoid falling prey to this scam;
- Do not make any personal payments for a job offer.
- Always take note of punctuations and use of professional language in emails relating to jobs and recruitment.
- Always copy and paste a part of the job offer email on a search engine to ascertain its authenticity. You can include the word “scam” at the end of the search input to detect if anyone has reported that company before as a scam.
- Check if the email came from a self-hosted domain. Most legitimate companies have their company domain email e.g. Mike@greatcompany.com while scammers will not want to go through the stress of creating a company domain email and opt for a free email service such as Gmail or Yahoomail.
Fake Jobs on Social Media
Some social networking services (notably Facebook and LinkedIn) have integrated job boards to their platforms so that users can post as well as respond to job offers. Unfortunately, there nothing stopping a scammer from creating a fake individual or company profile on these platforms and posting fake job offers.
To avoid these scams copy the name of the recruitment agency or the employer involved and paste it into a search engine. If you can’t find a website for the agency or the employer then it is a scam, but be careful – clever scams use names that sound like real agencies.
Fake Jobs Apparently from Legitimate Employers – the employer name is legitimate, the jobs are NOT legitimate
This type of scam occurs when scammers clone the website of a legitimate company and use a fake URL with an almost easily overlooked difference from the original website. They then put up job posts with vague job descriptions and good remunerations to get the attention of job seekers.
To avoid this kind of scam Job seekers should do research on the company and be sure that the URL, logos, and name of the recruiter correlates with the information on the legitimate website.
Bogus Jobs on Legitimate Job Boards
The job board may be a well-known brand name or your favorite professional association’s “career center.” But, while the job board is legitimate, the job is a SCAM. The fact that a job board requires payment in order to post jobs does NOT guarantee that all jobs posted on the platform are legitimate. Scammers often make enough money off their scams to cover the cost of the posting, or they may be scamming the job board, too, by using a stolen credit card to pay for the posting.
To avoid these types of scams job seekers should research the company or individual offering the job and not just assume the job board has done their due diligence.
Fake Job Boards, Fake Employer Websites and Fake Recruiter Websites
These job boards are owned by scammers. They might display legitimate jobs interspersed with fake jobs to lend credence to the site. Usually, they require your personal information or your personal bank account number so they can begin depositing your paychecks (because they are ready to hire you immediately). A good rule of thumb is that the newer the job board or website the more likely is it that it might be fake.
Here are four warning signs that you are dealing with a Job scam
- You are offered a job without an interview. Note that real companies will want to first get to know you through an interview process.
- You’re being asked to provide sensitive information before anything else is done. Such information could be a bank account or card number and the pretext might be “it is part of the application process.”
- The job is very easy to do and pays very well. Jobs that claim you can earn a lot for little to no work are scams.
- No experience is required. Companies look for certain skills or educational qualifications, even in entry-level roles. Job offers that look like anyone can do it are often multi-level marketing or direct selling schemes or worse, flat-out scams.
Four steps to escaping job scams
Finally, here are actions to take that will help you escape job scammers.
- Develop the habit of researching the organization or company you’re applying.
Whenever you come across an advert that captures your attention make sure you always investigate the organization or company by Googling the organization and check what they do exactly and check reviews about the company. Check the CAC website to make sure it’s a legit organization or company
- Always pay attention to details
Don’t be in a hurry to apply a job without reading the description of the job and paying attention to small errors like.
- Email signature
- Capitalization
- Typos
- Spellings and punctuations
- If you’re being asked for money, run!
Don’t be in a rush to pay money in other to get a job no matter how convincing the person may sound, as legitimate companies or organizations won’t ask you to pay a certain amount of money to get employed.
- Never you ever give out your personal information
Never give out your personal information such as your BVN, ATM card details/pin. The only time you can give out your personal details is when you have secured the job.
Contributors:
Wale Osoba
Hassanat Kehinde Obanla
Temitayo Oloruntoba
Jonathan Annas Dinju