Don’t give out your credit card or phone account loginĪ real employer doesn’t need to know your credit card number, credit score or phone account login to process your job application. Cybercriminals typically don’t want you to hear their voices or see their faces, since it raises the chances you’ll realize they’re not who they say they are.Ĩ. Sooner or later, a real employer will want to see and interact with a recruit, whether through a video call or in person. But be cautious of hiring managers who insist on communicating only by email or text or using messaging platforms such as Telegram to conduct interviews. The pandemic has made it necessary for many employers to conduct job interviews remotely via services like Zoom. Top: A domain name for a fake careers website posing as Spirit Airlines that misspells “Spirit” as “Spirits.” Bottom: The real Spirit Airlines careers web address. Do the same with any companies that seemingly can’t spell their own names. When job applicants can’t spell a company’s name right in a cover letter, recruiters are apt to toss those applications in the trash. When you vet companies, be aware that cybercriminals sometimes steer potential applicants to fake websites they’ve created that mimic the sites of real companies - except that, say, an extra letter has been added to the company’s name. Check the spelling and domains of company names (The ad was removed after an inquiry by ProPublica.)Ħ. Screenshots from a fake Facebook profile that claimed to belong to a senior manager at Denver International Airport, but which showed a check-in in Owerri, Nigeria. If they’re not, report the suspect profiles to LinkedIn and Facebook. When in doubt, contact the companies directly to ask if they’re actually recruiting for the positions. while showing check-ins at locations in other countries. One clue: a person claiming to work for a company in the U.S. Research the identity of the person posting the adĬybercriminals are creating fake profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook meant to resemble individuals at real companies who are posting job ads. If you spot an ad that features virtually identical language to that used by various employers all over the country, it could be a scam.ĥ. Take the text of the job ad and put it in GoogleĬybercriminals sometimes reuse the same job ads over and over, posting them on LinkedIn, Facebook and other online platforms with only slight modifications. A phony website purporting to be the Spirit Airlines careers site asks for the applicant’s driver’s license as part of the initial application processĤ. Legitimate employers rarely request such information until much later in the hiring process. Be wary of job ads touting the need to verify your identity at the outsetĪds that demand you share your driver’s license or Social Security number as part of an initial application, or very soon after, are a significant red flag. Ignore such messages and don’t open any attachments.ģ. The emails may also include malware that can infect your computer. These are bogus messages whose main purpose is to get people to share additional information, which the scammers will use to commit fraud. Sometimes cybercriminals obtain the contact information of people who have submitted their résumés to job-seeking websites and then email them to say they are preapproved for a job. A fake job ad on LinkedIn that promises unusually high pay for shuttle-bus driversĢ. You can get an idea of average weekly earnings by industry using the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages or check out salary calculators on websites such as Glassdoor. If the salary being offered in a job ad is way above what you see in other ads for similar positions, be wary. One of the ways criminals entice people is by advertising unusually generous pay. Here are ten tips on how to spot such scams: It’s a good reminder that you should vet potential employers as closely as they vet you. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.Īs ProPublica has reported, cybercriminals are flooding the internet with fake job ads and even bogus company hiring websites whose purpose is to steal your identity and use it to commit fraud. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.
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