      |
 Job seekers: Beware of spammers, scammers, and schemers.An Article by Sharon Graham, Canada's Career Strategist Principal Consultant, Graham Management Group
Most job seekers these days rely heavily on the internet as a resource to help them achieve their career transition goals. The internet can be quite useful in helping to perform research and find help; however, there are many dangers lurking within the web and it may be in your best interest to proceed with caution. As economic stresses tighten, Canadian job seekers are increasingly bombarded by highly unethical criminal activities. Online predators that target job seekers are the Career Industry’s equivalent of “ambulance chasers.” With criminally honed skills, these spammers, scammers, and schemers prey on their victims when they are most vulnerable and looking for help. Many Canadian and international job boards, recruitment firms, and
career consultants are ethical and display integrity in the services
they provide. However, to ensure your safety and success, you must be
vigilant in spotting predators. Here are some of the most common spams,
scams, and schemes that take advantage of job seekers:
Fake Employer Scam
These predators act as potential employers on internet job boards.
You’ll find that that they will work in one of two ways; by
either posting a fake opportunity or by directly targeting you
from your posted resume. These companies often use a “phishing” e-mail
technique to create urgency and get you to act soon. If you encounter
such a company, at some point, they will ask you to pay something to
apply. If anyone ever asks you for money in return for a job, you can
be assured that something fishy is going on. Good employers never
require you to pay in order to start a job.
Job Seeker Identity Theft
These rip-off artists are similar to the fake employer scammers, but
they may be more difficult to identify as they pose as reputable firms
on the internet. Sometimes, they use a technique called “spoofing” –
stealing the logo and brand from a good company and using it to mimic
their website. You will be asked to provide information with promises
of a lucrative job offer with wording like this: "We’ve seen your
resume, and we’ve decided to offer you a position in our company." If
you are not savvy, you may end up giving them your social insurance,
bank account, or credit card numbers. As a condition of being “set up”
in the company’s system, you may even be required to enter a password,
which then may be used by the criminal to easily access and steal your
money. Fake “MBA” Spam
This fraudster spams the internet with emails selling MBA’s and
other advanced degrees without any schooling required. These fake
credentials may seem quite tantalizing if you have a limited amount of
formal education and are feeling bypassed by employers. Nevertheless,
one should beware. Once you “purchase” this designation and put it on
your resume, you will quickly find out that many good organizations
will check your credentials and disqualify you for an invalid
certificate.
Guaranteed Job SchemeThis nasty scammer calls himself a “headhunter” and “guarantees”
finding a suitable job for thousands of dollars without any work on the
part of the applicant. You may purchase their service thinking that you
can avoid doing the work involved in an active job search.
Realistically, it is very doubtful that any company would want to hire
you without a clear understanding of who you are and what you can do.
Remember, you are selling yourself, and therefore you need to take
steps yourself to find and earn a suitable job offer – other people
cannot do this for you. An ethical recruiter will never take money from
you in order to place you in a job.
Resume Writer Scam
This swindler poses on the internet as a legitimate resume service
using fake credentials on their site. In many cases, the certification
logos and samples on the predator’s site are plagiarized from reputable
firms and pasted into their own site. If you are caught up in this
scam, you’ll soon find that after paying, you’ll end up with either a
template that just “massages” the information you already have in your
resume or no product at all. Don’t ever purchase resume writing
services without thoroughly checking out the provider. If you find
multiple complaints registered on the internet, don’t use that service.
Instead, use a well-known, professional service with a good reputation. Job Board “Bait and Switch”
These unscrupulous job boards use “bait and switch” tactics making
people pay to subscribe but not allowing them to see complete postings
until they have gone through the aggressive “upselling” of other
services and products. Don’t be surprised when you pay to enter a
“premium” job site and they use this technique to rudely critique and
discredit your professional resume, put you “on guard,” and coldly sell
you a resume rewrite. Many good job boards do offer resume assessment
services, but they never block you from receiving the services you paid
for.
Job Board Resume Phishing Scam
Some resume writing services use a phishing technique by tapping job
boards and picking up resumes that are posted by job seekers. These
predators, send you an unsolicited e-mail indicating something like
this: “While conducting an online search, we reviewed your resume and
were concerned that you were not getting the results that you deserve.
Our professional resume writing partner will fix your resume.” Be
assured that first-rate resume services are far too busy and ethical to
spend time searching you out and targeting you without your specific
request for help.
Recruiter Reference Scheme
This unethical type of recruiter asks for references before telling
the job seeker the name of the company that is hiring. Once he has the
references in hand, he goes over the head of the candidate and targets
those individuals in the hopes of filling the original position. If you
provide your personal references before getting the name of your
potential employer, you may be taken advantage of as your reference may
be contacted to interview for the job you wanted. An ethical recruiter
will never ask for your references before obtaining your approval and
providing you with the name of the company who will be getting your
information. Money Laundering Job Scam
These crooks pose as legitimate employers and offer victims a job
handling money transfers. You can be solicited by an e-mail, while
checking out a website, or when you are responding to a job posting. If
you take such a “job,” you would be required to transfer money to
various bank accounts in return for a small percentage of the full
amount transferred. Be warned – it is very likely that you are
laundering money that is stolen, which will make you an accomplice to
the crime. Moreover, once the bank learns that what you are doing is
fraudulent, the funds will be taken from your account and you will be
liable to pay them back.
Work-at-Home Selling Scam
Work from home scammers offer “easy money” to do practically
nothing. If you are targeted, you’ll be asked to purchase and pay for
product or manufacturing material in advance, and the products “sell
themselves”. However, once the product is in hand you will realize
that, generally, there is little to no chance of selling enough of the
product for you to break even – let alone earn a living.
Work-at-Home Reshipping Scam
The reshipping scammer connects with victims by e-mail and offers
them the opportunity to earn money by forwarding packages that are
shipped to them to another address. If you accept this kind of job, you
will likely be shipping stolen property. Eventually, you will be caught
as the name on the shipping receipt and the return address is yours.
Work-at-Home Job List Scam
These scammers take advantage of entrepreneurial job seekers by
selling them a list of companies that are looking for people to work
from home. If you purchase such a list, you’ll soon find out that you
paid for a worthless piece of junk. Most of the companies listed are
not looking for people, and much of the contact information is outdated
and useless.
The Canadian government continues to institute legislation, but it seems that spammers, scammers, and schemers morph their criminal activities to pose ever-increasing dangers. Many good organizations are taking on a proactive role in instituting ethical practices that support job seekers and enable them to achieve their career goals. Leading Canadian job boards, recruitment firms, career consulting firms, and government services, have tackled these issues too. Although many ethical organizations have instituted strong policies
and processes, criminals still find their way around them. Use your
understanding of potential dangers, good intuition, and common sense to
proceed with caution. Criminals count on you to let your guard down as
you tackle a sometimes lonely and difficult job search. If you
encounter a new spam, scam, or scheme that may affect other Canadian
job seekers, report it to the RCMP http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ or
contact Phone Busters at 1-888-495-8501.
Sharon Graham is principal consultant for Graham Management Group, executive director of Career Professionals of Canada, and author of Best Canadian Resumes. Graham Management Group is known for excellence and innovation in resume, interview, and career strategy. Sharon assists executives, managers, and other experienced professionals through this leading career consulting firm. You can find further information and articles directly at www.GrahamManagement.com. Copyright © S Graham Management Solutions Inc. All rights reserved. You may reprint this article with permission only if you provide full credit to the author and company by including the paragraph above.
| |
© 2007-2010 Graham Management Group