These Tips Will Help You Avoid Falling For A Fake Job Posting

If you’re like me, you’ve benefited from the remote work revolution. Being able to log in from home and cut out the hassle of a busy commute has given millions of employees some freedom that they didn’t have when they were tied to an office.

At the same time, however, the current work environment has been ripe for scammers who promise big money for work-from-home jobs that don’t actually exist.

Why do the scammers do it?

As with virtually any other online scam, the primary motivation for those who create listings for fake jobs lies in collecting personal information about prospective victims. This can include passwords, Social Security numbers, or even banking data.

Of course, when people are looking for a job, they might let their guard down a bit and fall for something that they would recognize as suspicious if it came in a spam email or some other format.

For that reason, it pays to be as cautious as possible.

A few important steps to take

In order to reduce the chances of falling for a fraudster’s scheme, one executive at the job search platform Adzuna recommends beginning with one common adage in mind.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Paul Lewis said. “Work from home for a salary beyond your wildest dreams? Highly unlikely.”

Keeping these tips in mind will help you navigate with confidence:

• Use trusted platforms, but always be skeptical. Reports indicate nearly one in three job listings on Indeed might be fraudulent.
• Reach out with any questions or concerns. If a job poster won’t address those issues to your satisfaction, that’s a big red flag.
• Don’t blindly agree to give out your information. There’s no reason to reveal any sensitive data early on in the job-seeking process.

Chris Agee January 25th, 2023

Share this story: