That job ad or recruitment outreach might appear legitimate—but it’s not. Instead of an exciting new opportunity, it’s an attempt to defraud job seekers and steal their identity.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported 77,612 claims of business and job opportunity fraud during the first three quarters of 2023, with a median loss of over $2,000 for each victim.

New college graduates, people seeking remote or stay-at-home work, and people who share on social media that they have been laid off are among the most targeted, according to the agency.

“Scammers are taking outdated ads from real employers, changing them, and posting them on employment websites and career-oriented platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn,” said Gema de las Heras, a consumer education specialist at the FTC. “Their goal is to trick you into sharing personal information.”

Incidences of recruitment scams shot up by 118% in 2023 compared with a year earlier, according to the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) in El Cajon, Calif. These scams come primarily in two forms, explained Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of ITRC:

• Phony job ads, using the names of real companies and hiring managers. “They’re looking more real than ever, thanks to artificial intelligence, which has allowed criminals to create job postings that appear more legitimate and target greater numbers of victims,” she said.
• A phony recruiter reaching out directly, encouraging job seekers to submit an application with personal information on it.  

“Some of the hijacked job postings are offers to work from home as a personal assistant or customer service representative,” de las Heras said. “Then, they’ll ask you for information like your Social Security number and your bank account number so they can supposedly deposit your salary. Sometimes, they say you got the job and send you a check to buy equipment that you have to cash and send some of the money back to them.”

It may be difficult to distinguish between genuine and phony opportunities in some cases, but experts recommend taking precautionary measures.

“It’s important for job seekers to stay alert and be vigilant while pursuing new opportunities to not reveal personal confidential information,” said Vicki Salemi, a career expert for Monster.

“Job seekers may be on autopilot mode when applying online but should pause before submitting apply if the job ad asks to include their Social Security number, for example. Be skeptical of a job ad asking you to submit personal information along with your resume, like your bank account number, birthday, or other revealing identifiers. It may also ask you to send money—that’s not a legitimate job ad.”

Salemi recommended job seekers also search for companies online to ensure they’re still active and open for business. Interested applicants can verify job openings by visiting the website for the employer and looking for a careers page.

“A tipoff that an ad is fake is if you can’t find the company anywhere online,” she said. “If the company doesn’t have any online presence like a website, that’s a red flag. Additionally, the phony job ad may include an email address such as Gmail or something random that’s clearly not an employer’s email address.”

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