Tips to avoid the scammers
Desperate job seekers are being targeted by employment scammers, say security and legal experts.
Last month saw the number of people placed in permanent jobs fall to the lowest levels since the start of the year. Similarly, the Government’s emergency budget, aimed at cutting the deficit, will soon result in the loss of approximately 600,000 public sector jobs.
Legal experts say criminals are preying on a growing number of people who have lost their jobs. The most popular fraudulent scheme at the moment is mystery shopper positions.
Neeta Laing, head of employment law at Lewis Hymanson Small, said;
“Criminal fraudsters are taking advantage of the difficult employment situation. Job hunters have recently been targeted by fake adverts in local papers. Scammers advertise in local papers, asking workers to provide personal details and pay to become a member. The moment there is any mention of money upfront, alarm bells should ring.
“To check if an advert is authentic, look out for a registered website, Google the business, examine registered trademarks, call up the business to get more information and see if its legitimate.
Neeta continues;
“These opportunists are committing fraud. Many of these false companies are fronts for criminality, often involved in money laundering or identity theft and aimed at stealing money from bank accounts.”
Jim Watson, managing director of Shred Easy and a security expert, said;
“By registering for these false adverts you will be unwittingly giving criminals your bank account details, date of birth and email address. That means a canny criminal could get a passport in your name, open a bank account, take out loans and use your address. Its paramount to check out the authenticity of these adverts in local papers.”
Jim’s five top tips to spot a scam:
1) Use a search engine to research the company and look for reported scams
2) Beware of job adverts that ask to pay money
3) Never give your bank account details before securing a job
4) Be wary of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and generic email addresses in ads.
5) Make sure the company has a registered office rather than just a PO box number
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