The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning the public to be wary of employment scams while searching for jobs online. Scammers have been enticing job seekers with easy, work from home job offers and sizeable salaries.
“Opportunities for extra income become very attractive, especially when the job requirements listed are very minimal, they do not require you to leave home and the entire package comes across as a way to make easy money”, says Karla Davis, Manager for Community and Public Relations at BBB.
The job traps are likely to catch vulnerable groups like ex-convicts, new immigrants, seniors, single parents and students - people who generally have difficulty finding employment or their existing situation is one where they cannot afford to lose money. People who are underemployed, are sole breadwinners seeking extra money to make ends meet or people seeking jobs with great flexibility because they have children, should also be careful. They may end up losing all their money by falling victim to an overpayment scam or unwittingly aiding money laundering.
How the Overpayment Scam Works Your employer may send you payment with a counterfeit cashier’s, personal or corporate cheque for an amount in excess of the agreed salary. The employer may give you a seemingly legitimate reason for the excess funds or simply say it was sent in error. They will ask you to deposit the cheque and return the excess funds immediately or send it to a third party account. When your bank discovers the cheque you deposited is fraudulent, you will be left with the costs.
Job seekers that use popular sites like Indeed and Monster should also exercise caution when creating job profiles to attract recruiters, as scammers and fraudsters are lurking on these platforms as well. Many job sites offer features that allow you to upload and post your resume on the platform so that recruiters can easily search for potential candidates. However, scammers and fraudsters have been known to pose as recruiters, offering phony jobs or simply scouring for information in resumes and on dormant jobseeker profiles.
“Resumes contain enough information to identify a person,” Davis explained. “A typical resume includes your name, address, email, telephone number and also outlines an individual’s employment history”.
If that wealth of information gets into the wrong hands, you could be exposed to identity theft - that is, when an imposter uses your personal information to apply for a credit card or loan, make unauthorized purchases or gain access to your bank account.
While job sites like Indeed have been responsive to our alerts about phony recruiter profiles, BBB believes that more can be done to protect jobseekers using the various sites including: • more detailed and frequent reviews of existing accounts; • stricter registration requirements for recruiters; and • withholding some information on jobseeker profiles, which would also indirectly promote unbiased selection of candidates.
BBB is recommending the following tips to jobseekers:
1) Never include your SIN on your resume. In most cases, you will be required to share your SIN with your new employer. However, only do so after you have verified that the job offer and company are legitimate. Check with BBB to authenticate the company.
2) Be wary of certain job titles. Scammers have been known to use work from home jobs, secret shopper positions or any job with a generic title such as caregiver, administrative assistant, customer service representative or positions that do not require special training or licensing.
3) Consult the company’s website directly. Check the website for the recruiting company to confirm if the vacancy is legitimate.
4) Look for red flags in the job description. Avoid job offers that require you to: - purchase bitcoin; - perform tasks anonymously; - use your own account to process transactions; or - receive cheques valuing more than the agreed salary.
5) Watch the recruitment process. Be wary of on-the-spot job offers, offers made without an interview and interviews done on instant messaging platforms.
6) Delete your resume when you have completed your job search. Do not leave your personal information for others to see and possibly access. Scammers like to use dormant accounts.
If you are a victim of a scam, report it to BBB by visiting bbb.org and using Scam Tracker.