Written by Vaclav Koranda

Fake Jobs and Fake Job Boards

In today’s digital age, the rise of fake jobs and fake job boards has become a significant concern, posing a threat to job seekers and employers alike. In this article, I delve into the phenomenon of fake jobs and fake job boards, explain their impact, help you identify red flags, and offer strategies to protect yourself from falling victim to these scams.

Fake Jobs

The convenience and accessibility of online job platforms have revolutionized the job search process. Unfortunately, they have also created fertile ground for scammers. Fake job postings prey on the desperation of job seekers, exploiting their need for employment. These scams can take various forms, from non-existent job offers to deceptive recruitment agencies, all aimed at extracting personal information, money, or both.

How Fake Jobs Work

Fake jobs often lure job seekers with enticing offers that seem too good to be true. Common tactics include:

  1. Relatively High Salaries for Minimal Work: Scammers promise lucrative salaries for performing relatively easy tasks, appealing to individuals in need seeking quick financial gains.
  2. Immediate Job Offers: Fraudulent postings might pretend to ‘guarantee’ you immediate employment without a formal interview or background check, which never happens in a legitimate recruitment process.
  3. Request for Personal Information: Scammers may ask for sensitive personal information, such as social security numbers, bank account details, or copies of identification documents, under the guise of a background check or payroll setup.
  4. Advance Fee Fraud: Job seekers are asked to pay an upfront fee for alleged training, equipment, insurance, or processing fees, with the promise of reimbursement once they start working (which of course never happens).

Protecting Yourself from Fake Jobs

I have described this issue in detail, along with how you should protect yourself, in my earlier article here: Job Seeker Alert: How to Spot and Avoid Scam Job Opportunities

Fake Job Boards

Fake job boards can be sophisticated and appear legitimate, mimicking legitimate job boards such as Indeed or Monster, making it challenging to distinguish them from authentic platforms. Others appear rather poorly made and crawl content from real job boards, relying on users clicking on their content out of desperation to find a job.

A popular target for scammers are government or military job boards. For instance, many of the identified domains masquerading as US government job boards were reportedly associated with email campaigns. Those in Pakistan and India appear largely fraud-related and employ WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Fake Taiwanese government job postings are suspected of harvesting personal information for phishing and fraud. Similarly, totalitarian states such as North Korea and Russia also host fake job postings for phishing and create fake personas in attempts to be hired by and gain access to Western tech companies.

Identifying Fake Job Boards

Here are some red flags to watch out for when identifying fake job boards:

  1. Suspicious Domain Names: Fake job boards often use domain names that are similar to reputable sites but with slight alterations or misspellings.
  2. Lack of Contact Information: Legitimate job boards provide clear contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses. Fake job boards might hide or provide vague contact details.
  3. Poor Website Design and Functionality: Low-quality websites with numerous grammatical errors, broken links, lots of popups and advertisement (especially in areas like gambling, trading, or dietary supplements – you know for what 😉 ), are likely to be fraudulent.
  4. Overemphasis on Paid Services: While some legitimate job boards offer premium services, fake job boards may aggressively push paid memberships or services without providing clear value.

Protecting Yourself from Fake Job Boards

To safeguard against fake job boards, job seekers should adopt the following strategies:

  1. Check the Website Name: Pay attention to the URL of the job board and look for slight misspellings or alterations (especially in the domain, e.g., .net instead of .com) that may indicate a fraudulent site.
  2. Use Reputable Job Boards Only: Stick to well-known job boards with robust verification processes, such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Monster. Almost all employers and recruitment agencies post their vacancies on these platforms anyway.
  3. Look for Contact Information: Check if the job board provides clear contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses.
  4. Report Suspicious Activity: If you encounter a suspicious job board, report it to the relevant authorities or the platform administrators to prevent others from falling victim.

The Impact of Falling for Fake Jobs and Job Boards

The consequences of falling victim to fake jobs or job boards can be severe:

  1. Financial Loss: Once you swallow the bait and send money to the scammers, they will keep your money, and you will never hear from them again.
  2. Identity Theft: Scammers can use personal information obtained from fake job applications to commit identity theft and further e.g. open new credit card accounts or take out loans in your name, or even use your identity when committing crimes to avoid arrest or prosecution. This may lead to your long-term legal and financial complications.
  3. Emotional Distress: The stress and disappointment of realizing a job opportunity was a scam can have emotional and psychological impacts on you, deterring you from your job search for at least a while, and moving you further away from landing a job.
  4. Malicious Software: If you browse unprotected and come across a fake job board or download an app sent by a fake recruiter, your computer may get infected with malicious software that can gain unauthorized access to your system, steal sensitive information, corrupt your data, or lock your computer and demand ransom.

Which Fake Jobs Are Not Fake?

Sometimes, frustrated job seekers who send dozens or hundreds of job applications without hearing anything back cannot understand why this is happening. They assume there is some conspiracy against them in the world and rant on social media, complaining about companies posting ‘fake jobs’—especially if they see the very same job they applied to being reposted without them being hired. What is actually happening in the background is this:

  • The employer purchased a fixed period for which the advert should appear. When you applied, the job search may have already been almost closed, although the advert hasn’t expired yet.
  • The employer is flooded with applications and is unable to respond. (No, ATS will not do it automatically; there always has to be someone who pushes the ‘reject’ button.)
  • The employer put the position on hold or cancelled the vacancy altogether after the advert had already been published.
  • The employer is not hiring into the vacancy right now but is collecting resumes for anticipated hiring needs in the near future.
  • The employer has higher employee turnover in that role (or has a large number of employees in that role and moderate turnover) and is constantly hiring into that role. However, you were not deemed suitable. (For tips on what to do about it, please refer to the “You may also like” section at the bottom.)

The old truth is: If they want you, they will call you. The good news about the above is that you can apply to those jobs with no fear because the only risk is that you accidentally get a job.

Pro Tip: Don’t waste time racking your brain or crying on social media. Rather, reach out to someone in your network who works in your target company and ask them to help you find out more about what is happening with the vacancy you are interested in.

See also: The Power of Networking

Conclusion

The proliferation of fake jobs and fake job boards highlights the importance of vigilance in the job search process. By understanding the tactics used by scammers and adopting proactive measures, you can protect yourself from falling prey to these deceptive schemes. Employers and job platforms should also play a role in verifying job postings and educating users about potential threats. Together, we can create a safer and more trustworthy job market for all.

Good luck!

You May Also Like:

Do you want to get new posts directly to your mailbox? Subscribe here.

Do you need my personal assistance? Simply send me your resume and a link to your LinkedIn profile at vaclav@getyourdreamjob.co and I will come back to you!

Leave a comment