Rosser, Chief Executive of SAFERJobs, for his thoughts.
What is a job scam?
In simple terms, it’s fake online job advertising, targeting jobseekers with the aim of stealing personal information or money. In 2016, over 300,000 students were targeted – with over half handing over cash, totally unaware they had been scammed.
Students are being targeted because they want to support themselves financially through uni. It’s a tough and competitive job market out there, so they’re more willing to part with cash if it means securing a job.
What are the main scams I should look out for?
Scams are becoming extremely sophisticated, with fraudsters upping their game, making it really difficult to know what’s genuine or fake.
Opportunists are tailoring scams to potential victims’ backgrounds before targeting them with convincing lies, attempting to collect personal information and con them out of money.
If you are even slightly suspicious about a recruiter, have been targeted or treated unfairly about a job, or are the victim of a scam, you can report it to SAFERjobs. They will share details of potential criminality or breaches of regulation with their partners, such as the police, and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Common scams
Fake job adverts are listed to entice people to apply, so fraudsters can gain personal information, including national insurance details, bank details, date of birth and address, to steal your identity.
Advance fee scams are very common. Fraudsters ask for money up front for things like CV writing, admin charges, carrying out background security checks such as Data and Barring Service clearance, and even claiming to be travel agents when people are looking to work abroad.
Premium rate phone interview scams are a growing concern. Scammers send texts or missed call messages to victims asking them to call premium rate numbers for an initial phone interview. People are put on hold for a long period of time, making the call last up to an hour. Costs to unsuspecting victims can total hundreds of pounds.
Identify fraud and identity theft is a worrying trend. Fraudsters pose as employers and ask for personal information, bank statements, passport details, and driving licences as pre-employment checks.
Money muling scams involve someone known to students asking them to pay money into their account, and then transfer it back to them electronically to earn a small fee for doing so. Main reasons given are, ‘working cash-in-hand and don’t want to pay tax as there’s too much in their own account’. But this is money laundering, and it’s illegal.
Rental fraud, e.g. student accommodation paid up front which doesn’t exist. Particularly busy in late summer/early autumn when students are looking to find houses or rooms to let before returning to uni.
NAME:- TUSHAR WAMAN
CLASS:- SY-BBA-IB
ROLL NO:- 382
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