21 Fake Jobs

Trying to find a job these days can be really tough, so most people turn to the power of the internet to help, using recruitment firms, job post boards and recruitment search engines. Applying for a job involves parting with quite a detailed amount of personal information. The criminals know this and so send out spam job emails or set up fake recruitment websites in order to get you to give them personal information which can then be used in phishing scams.

Worse still are the fake ‘work from home’ jobs which effectively just get you to launder money for the criminals. You typically get a 10% brokerage fee, and it is advertised as a professional financial service opportunity. You would be committing a crime and as ignorance of the law is not a defence, it could land you in quite a lot of trouble. Some variants of this scam get you to do some form of online training to make them appear more credible. Here is a typical fake job email:

From Mr. K. Barnett (barnett.job@gmail.com)

Greetings Nick Ioannou,

We got your resume at jobsite.co.uk. Our Company is looking for dynamic candidates to join the team of FS Agent which is accessible once. Our Enterprise is looking for self-supporting agents who will introduce our Company in different regions. This is an occasional opportunity to obtain a unique experience of working as a part of a professional group, in addition to servicing large clients and creating strong business partnerships. This is a remote position; all assignments and documentation are provided through a web panel at our corporate server, which you will be connecting to over the Internet, from your computer. No particular software or hardware is required. This job does NOT expect any sales, marketing or cold calling.

Minimum Requirements: 

We also have a special partnership proposal for business owners which grant you the access to large corporate agreements with increased bonuses. Interested candidates may submit an e-mail of interest with a full name and contact number to this e-mail address. Applicants available to start immediately will have the privilege and will be provided with a sign-on bonus.

With regards,

Mr. K. Barnett

HR Manager

Remember, any job advert that says that you need a current bank account to process payments is probably a money laundering scam. In fact, any job posting that requires you give your bank details in order to just apply for the position is a scam. There are also a lot of ‘work from home’ scams that require you to purchase some type of start-up kit, franchise fee, training pack or registration fee. The whole scam revolves around getting you to pay this initial starting fee and you get little in return. Some let you recover your money by reselling the starting pack; effectively making you part of a pyramid scheme.

Here’s another spam email I received for a ‘Key Account Manager’ position. I’ve left in the typos!

Hello, We have an excellent opportunity for an apprentice applicant to join a rapidly expanding company.

An at home Key Account Manager Position is a great opportunity for stay at home parents 

or anyone who wants to work in the comfort of their own home. 

This is a part time job / flexible hrs for European citizens only,This is in view of our not having a branch office presently in Europe, also becouse of paypal and ebay policies wich is prohibit to work directly with residents of some countries.

Requirements: computer with Internet access, valid email address, good typing skills. 

If you fit the above description and meet the requirements, please apply to this ad stating your location.

You will be processing orders from your computer. How much you earn is up to you. 

The average is in the region of 750-1000 GBP per week, depending on whether you work full or part time.

Region: United Kingdom only.

If you would like more information, please contact us stating where you are located and our job reference number - 11398-337/0HR. 

Please only SERIOUS applicants.

If you are interested, please reply to: Selma@uk-google.com

Some scams are trying to trick you into cashing bogus checks and transferring the balance (minus your commission) to specified accounts via a money transfer service. It’s typically dressed up as a ‘store evaluation’ role, like this one below from unitedsurveyinc@aol.com

We have a Store Evaluation assignment at Walmart, Walgreens and CVS and you will be paid $200 per assignment. Get back to me if you are interested in participating. Note that the assignment can be done after work or during your break time.

Sincerely,

David Coleman

Email secured by Check Point

Also, keep an eye out for the work at home schemes that basically involve getting you to work through a list of online adverts for which the hiring company gets a per click fee. You get a tiny amount per advert and would need to have amazing concentration abilities and stamina, as well as a fast internet connection to reach the levels of potential income quoted in the adverts. The other variant of this is where people are hired to search for and click on competitor’s adverts, eating up their daily AdWords advertising budgets. Often this is advertised as a market research or quality control role, but is basically fraud and is often called ‘click’ fraud. The software you are given to install can also be part of a zombie network, getting your computer and internet connection to work for them whenever it is on. Remember, never sign up to anything involving money from an unsolicited spam email or from a random advert.

Fake jobs have also been used as a way to install trojans and viruses onto job hunter's computers. Recently a group of people appeared in court in London charged with conspiracy to defraud; their scam was based around putting fake job adverts for the famous Harrods store on Gumtree. The victims would then be sent a bogus application pack to fill out, from what appeared to be a legitimate recruitment agency. Some of the victims lost up to £4,700 as their bank accounts were compromised and login details were stolen. A fake job application can also be used to build detailed profiles for identity fraud, asking for a date of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc. and even a secure password for their job seekers profile. Many people use the same password or variations of one so asking someone for a strong secure password is good way of tricking them into giving up information.

If you can, create a new free web-based email address to put on your CV and recruitment job boards. Forward this address to your normal address and if you find you are receiving fake job emails or generic spam, you can close the temporary email account once you have found a job. Make sure that any passwords you use for job searching websites are different from your normal range of passwords, in case the website is a ‘honey pot’ just to collect your details.

Lastly, make sure that your CV does not include your date of birth, when posting onto job websites.

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