Recent events in the world have increased not only the number of empty offices but also scammers who want to make money from dismissed employees. They offer income starting from $1000 for making simple tasks and promise a dream life. Fraudsters are taking advantage of the demand for remote work. As a rule, they position themselves as an organization with favorable conditions for work, attracting job seekers and forcing them to work for free, provide payment details, or pay some amount that allegedly guarantees employability.
What is employment fraud in a few words? It’s about scammers who want to play on the feelings of people without work and get their last money. We’ll tell you how to recognize fraud and not become a victim of fraudsters.
How to understand that you are faced with scammers?
The Playhunt Company recommends paying attention to the following tell-tale signs.
- The profit is unbelievably good. Such offers usually contain phrases like “quick money”, “unlimited earning potential”, “work without investments”, “instant income with the quick withdrawal of money”, etc.
- There is a sense of urgency. The HR pushes you to make a decision as quickly as possible. He/she may argue the urgency by the need to test the flexibility of the mind and the ability to work in a stressful situation. No decent company will push a job seeker to immediately accept a job offer.
- The job description is too vague. The scammer tries to convince others of the ease of the job and offers a large salary.
- You are offered a job without checking experience or references.
- The company already in the description actively boasts of the “achievements” of its employees , describing their exaggerated income.
- The job description contains grammatical and spelling errors or many capital letters and punctuation marks (!!! WORK FROM HOME $$$).
Employers looking for creative specialists to join their team often ask for a test task and this is normal practice. So the candidate can assess whether he/she likes the job and the HR can assess whether the specialist’s skill level meets the company’s requirements.
However, dishonest employers send different test tasks to all candidates. For example, they are asked to write a 2000-character article with 100% uniqueness but the topics of the articles will be different for everyone. So they can collect content for a month completely free of charge.
If the employer wants candidates to complete the test task, it should be identical for all. It is often published immediately in the job description and asked to be sent along with the CV. Actually, everything here depends on the reputation of the employer.
Never agree to do a job if the person asks for personal financial information or a small financial contribution to secure a position for you. Usually, scammers say that all investments will pay off in a few days or weeks. The employer should pay you when hiring, you don’t have to waste your money. Moreover, even the stage of training for work is paid for by the company.
What are the consequences of data transfer to scammers?
- Employment fraud and identity theft as the swindles may get the documents and other essential information.
- Lost money.
- Wasted time.
- Spoiled mood.
- Distrust of all employers, even when all indicators speak of the reliability and seriousness of the company.
The Playhunt Company recommends refusing the suspicious offer. Do not give in to loud promises and analyze the received information about the vacancy and employers with a cool head.
How not to get into the trap of employment fraud?
- Follow the logic when looking for a job: the higher the salary promised in the vacancy, the higher the requirements for applicants should be.
- It would be nice to investigate the feedback from both the clients of the organization and the employees via the Internet. If any negative reviews are found (linked with the fraud topic reporting) then forget about this offer.
- Check out the company’s website. You will make a more informed decision about whether you should go to an interview after reviewing the information. So, stale news on the site may indicate stagnation in the organization. The absence of a Contacts page should be a wake-up call.
- If the promised salary is high, be prepared for multi-stage interviews and test tasks. Big companies do not hire people for well-paid positions without a full check.
- The functionality, even very wide, should be described in the vacancy clearly. The phrases “office work” or “manager is required” are not enough. Ignore jobs with vague job descriptions.
- Working from-home job scams is relevant when you can’t get anything over the phone. As a rule, scammers do not want to go into details promising to tell everything about the future job at the interview. They do not even announce the name of the company, convincing the person that the organization is new and very promising.
- Find out about the penalties system and what will happen in case of failure to fulfill a given plan.
- Be sure to ask about the employment contract. Decent employers do not evade their duties to conclude a normal labor contract but scammers will certainly avoid answering in every possible way.
- If you are offered to buy the company’s products, this is a financial pyramid scheme.
- Don’t pay anyone. You came here to make money, not to spend.
- Make a deep informational investigation of the organization to make sure it really exists and isn’t a one-day company.
By the way, remember that the rules of business etiquette shouldn’t have to be violated. Fraudsters immediately switch to informal communication with the candidate. That is not typical for business communication to use a commanding tone.
Of course, we are all out of humor sometimes. However, a true professional will never allow rudeness in such communication. As well as excessive kindness and the use of affectionate words. “Honey”, “sweetheart”, and “darling” are not about business communication. HRs do not allow themselves to do this and always address candidates by first name or first and last name. If you hear something else, stop communicating.
