Job & Employment Scams

The internet provides a myriad of options for job seekers to search and apply for jobs. There are a number of portals where job seekers can create profiles and look for suitable jobs. However, many of these websites expose personal contact details to recruiters. Many a time, these contact details are misused by scammers.

In this article, we will address companies who seem to offer you a great job, often in another country, but may actually be quite fishy. If you are considering a Pay to Click (PTC) Jobs or Work from Home Jobs, we recommend you to read the related articles.

Employment scams involve scammers contacting people searching for jobs and trying to get them to pay money or provide their financial information in order to secure a job.

Typical job offers are:

• Jobs in faraway countries
• Careers at holiday resorts or as cabin crew
• Vacancies that are highly-paid

Typical positions being offered are:

• Data entry, pay to click and other "work from home” jobs
• Jobs as a nanny, cleaner, personal assistant and entry-level jobs
• Work in the construction, hotel, restaurant, aviation and tourism industries

Reasons you have to pay or give your credit card/bank details are:

• To get more information about the vacancy
• To apply for the job (application/admission fees)
• To do a background check on you
• To pay for the intermediation of the recruiter
• To get the necessary travel/work visa
• To receive insurances for social healthcare and travel
• To receive the required training, course package or education program
• To get access to the software you would need to do the job
• To verify your identity (pay via money transfer or credit card)

We strongly recommend that you never give your bank or credit card details to a potential employer. A genuine employer has no need for your credit card details. Your bank account number only becomes relevant after employment has started. 

How to Check if the Job is Real

There are several ways in which you can recognize an employment or job scam:

• You have to pay them: This is often the biggest indicator that the vacancy is a scam. No legitimate company would ask you to pay to be employed. Recruiters, likewise, should not ask you for money as their fees are to be paid by the employer. Only job placement and counselling companies may ask for money. However, these companies can never guarantee you actually get a job. 
  
  
• The job pays too well: The salary offered is higher than for comparable jobs offered on recognized websites. As soon as the money offered is more than you would get in your country for the same work, it is time to treat the offer with suspicion. Why would they pay more? What is the catch? If the offer is legit, they will understand the question and answer it truthfully.
  
  
• The job is fantastic: The offer is too good to be true. We have come across "job offers" in luxury hotel resorts, holiday islands and other dream destinations. The work that has to be done is often simple or non-demanding. Discuss with them why they are offering you this great job. Again, the best way to check if the offer is true is to delve deeper into the job offer.
  
  
• They approach you: How do they know you are looking for a job? Scammers often scrape personal details of job seekers from job portals or social media Why are they approaching you? Which skills make you so unique while there are so many people looking for work? Ask them and see if their answers can explain their efforts to approach and convince you.
  
  
• They are pressuring you: This is a typical scam trick. They apply pressure on you to make a quick decision without giving enough time to think it through. Do not allow them to bully you. If they are unwilling to answer reasonable questions, break off the contact instead of hurriedly making a payment.
  
  
• The interview is too easy: Job interviews that are conducted exclusively via text message, are short and include only simple questions are very likely to be scams. If you are immediately offered a job after an easy interview, be suspicious as it may be a scam. 
  
  
• They ask for sensitive information early: They want you to fill in an application form, which is fine by itself. However, if the application requires that you share personal/financial information such as your credit card, bank, social security ID or other information, it is a huge red flag that it may be a scam.
  
  
• There is little information about the employer: This is not easy. We have seen scammers create professional company websites that are difficult to differentiate from the real companies. Search for the company. If you come across the company on multiple websites (e.g. companyXYZ.com and companyXYZ.co, be careful about the offer. Another great resource is LinkedIn. If the company claims to be well established and large, it should have a lot of employees on LinkedIn. If you cannot find any information at all, it is time to stop the conversation. 

The vacancy being posted on a big job board like Monster and Indeed is no guarantee that it is real. All major job boards are plagued with employment and job scams. If you come across a job or employment scam, please report them to Scamadviser.

A Real Example of a Job Scam

Below is an actual example of a Cabin Crew job offer scam. We received this query on our Facebook page asking us to verify whether the job offer was genuine. The job was offered by a company called AeroGulf Aviation Services based in Abu Dhabi to join as Cabin Crew. 

The letter itself doesn't look too suspicious, but the person was offered the job without any interview. We could only find information for an unrelated company called AeroGulf Services and no profile of the HR Manager named Stephen Radwan Hammad could be found. Due to these reasons, we advised her to be cautious. 

A few days later a website for AeroGulf Aviation Services popped up. The website is full of red flags and it seems to be a copy cat website of a company called Aviation Services Management (ASM).

Red flags of the AeroGulf Aviation Services website:

• Claims to be established in 1998. Website registered on 11 June 2020
• Exact copy of Aviation Services Management (ASM) website
• Looks unprofessional with low-quality and distorted images 
• Phone number marked as 'Fraud Job Vacancy' in TrueCaller

If you ever receive a great job offer without giving an interview, be careful as it may be a scam.

References

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0243-job-scams

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/list-of-fake-job-scam-examples-2062168