How to Spot Fake Job Postings With 99.5% Accuracy to Avoid Scammers
by Darrell DiZoglio, Certified Professional Resume Writer & Career Coach at https://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 11/2023
Unfortunately, it’s a well-known fact that the U.S. is in a recession, inflation is rampant, mortgage rates just hit a fresh new 40-year high (>8% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage), entire industries have hiring freezes, and the mass layoffs have continued unabated since January 2020 due to down-sizing, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and brand-new disruptive technologies/innovations. Because of this, millions of unemployed/underemployed professionals, retired people looking to boost their income, new entrants into the workforce, fresh college graduates, and senior citizens are increasingly falling prey to fake job postings and employment scams.
Here is exactly how to identify fake job postings:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Use the common sense that God gave you. You as the buyer/potential employee need to be wary/skeptical because when you apply for work your social security number and date of birth are often disclosed with permission to do a credit, criminal and background check. Why is this the case? Many employers like banks, credit unions, mortgage banks/brokers and restaurants/night clubs need to be sure you have kept your financial promises (have good credit) and do not have a criminal record.
If the employer’s name, location, and industry are not disclosed, that’s a significant red flag for each non- disclosure – employer’s name, location, and industry. If not, why not?
If there is a fee/cost of employment/investment required that’s a giant red flag, perhaps the biggest red flag of all. Business opportunities and work from home business opportunities are completely different than employment (often fraught with scams, fly-by-night operators, and websites that disappear after they have your hard-earned dough). A required fee, costs, investment (often steep) is a dead giveaway that it is not safe, traditional employment.
When you are looking for a job with Disney or Disney Cruise Lines and the job posting forwards you to a different (fraudulent) URL, so instead of https://Disney.com/careers or https://Cruise-Lines.Disney.com/careers you are sent to http://disnay.com/careers or http://cruise-lines.disnay.com/ careers yikes! Either the spelling is changed, .com is changed to .net, .cc, .is or there is no https:// (fully encrypted website for consumer protection) just http:// instead or there is a change in the URL’s punctuation like Disney-Cruise-Lines.com vs. the legit Disney.com website. An established employer’s website will normally come up in the first two pages of Google search engine results vs. the scammers address will not, so double check if there is any doubt or you see other red flags. You must check for these URL changes every time you apply for work because highly skilled criminal hackers abound.
They communicate with you on social media messaging apps or text vs. the phone or employer’s email WhatsApp, Twitter/X, Facebook Messenger/Meta Messenger, Instagram DM, etc. Who is more credible an email from [email protected] or dansCEO1969 via WhatsApp? Who is more credible an employer who calls with a caller ID of Apple Inc. or dansCEO1969 via WhatsApp? Scammers want you to think they are with a prestigious, Fortune 500 or Most Admired Employer, but if they cannot demonstrate this by phone, employer website or email, then you know better.
You need to make a purchase of any brand-new equipment to handle the company’s state-of-the-art CRM system/ERP system etc. Many scammers now are pushing the purchase of an expensive new Apple iPhone 15, expensive software, or Laptop PC or both! This is a dead giveaway it is not traditional employment and very likely a scam, work from home scam or business opportunity scam.
If they are busy promoting a work-from-anywhere laptop lifestyle complete with photos/video of exotic locations like Phuket Beach, Thailand, Fiji, Aruba, Miami Beach, show people recruiting you driving $200,000 Ferrari’s, Gull-Wing Mercedes, Rolls Royce Phantoms, BMW or Bentley convertibles, million-dollar yachts or cigarette boats cruising along off the coast of Florida or lavishly furnished mansions (rented out by the day/week for photo/video shoots. These are huge red flags.
If you answer a job posting/ad in the employment section and they try to convince you that you can make a full-time living from the stock, FOREX or cryptocurrency markets, want to invest your money for you, so you can make a full-time living from the stock, FOREX or cryptocurrency market, or combine either of these with the aforementioned work from anywhere luxury laptop lifestyle. It’s not employment, it involves significant risk no matter how much they downplay the risk or claim zero risk/virtually no risk, the risk is significant and very real. Run do not walk away from these scammers because often behind the scenes these very same people/scammers take large short positions against their own clients and state a sucker is born every minute.
Real employers will not rush you or push you by saying only 10 spots left nationwide, 8 spots left nationwide, 6 spots left nationwide etc. In general, there will be multiple interviews (except for some sales, business development or temporary jobs that are mostly paid on commission and bonuses). Traditional employers will not rush you because hiring decisions are important, employee turnover and washouts are costly, and if they do rush you, it’s probably a sign that they have significant turnover, are in dire straits, or are a tier 3 or 4 employer vs. tier 1 or 2.
You are applying for work with a traditional employer, but somehow in the process it morphs into a business opportunity (1099 not W-2 with benefits) or mentoring opportunity with a master of the industry that costs $2,500-$10,000 with significantly increased earnings potential. It’s a cleverly concealed scam run do not walk away.
If the “job posting” is on a popular website where they cost to publish a job posting/advertisement is either free or dirt cheap be ultra wary. You should know websites that promote free or very low-cost job postings or advertisements will attract the most scammers. Example: On some work from home websites the fake job postings and business opportunity scam ads can outnumber the legitimate ones by a three to one margin. Note: Many legitimate small-medium sized businesses still use Craigslist to recruit new employees.
If you do a Google search on your Recruiter/Interviewer and there are no results, your interview is with a ghost. Real employers, hiring Managers, HR Managers/Directors, Sales Managers/Directors and Recruiters have Google search results that show they are in fact legitimate vs. Ghosts. Additionally, Recruiters get better and better with experience, and they will have more helpful industry-specific connections as well.
If the employer/hiring Manager/HR Manager/Operations Manager or Recruiter seems inexperienced, has misplaced priorities or wants too much private personal info – credit card numbers, SS#, date of birth, etc. that you already disclosed via the official application process on an official employer’s website. Real employers want to know if you are qualified, accomplished, trained and skilled appropriately, willing to work the scheduled hours they need most, live close by, if former employers would hire you back, have experience working independently (telecommuting/remote), are able to meet urgent deadlines while working remotely, and will fit in with their existing team. Scammers have other concerns and are mostly clueless on modern hiring practices.
If you wonder what scammers will do with your social security number, date of birth, credit card/debit card numbers etc. It’s worse than you can imagine. People have told me their entire identity, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts etc. were stolen. Others have told me they suddenly had $100K hospital bills for operations they never had or were billed on their credit card for five new iPhone 15s, new Mac Power Notebooks or deluxe Hawaiian vacations they never purchased. Yes, your time is valuable and maximizing your productivity in a job search is key, but be careful and stay vigilant for scammers!
If you would like to be winning from the beginning in your job search contact Darrell DiZoglio, Certified Professional Resume Writer at https://RighteousResumes.com you will be glad you did.
by Darrell DiZoglio, Certified Professional Resume Writer & Career Coach at https://RighteousResumes.com Copyright 11/2023
Unfortunately, it’s a well-known fact that the U.S. is in a recession, inflation is rampant, mortgage rates just hit a fresh new 40-year high (>8% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage), entire industries have hiring freezes, and the mass layoffs have continued unabated since January 2020 due to down-sizing, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and brand-new disruptive technologies/innovations. Because of this, millions of unemployed/underemployed professionals, retired people looking to boost their income, new entrants into the workforce, fresh college graduates, and senior citizens are increasingly falling prey to fake job postings and employment scams.
Here is exactly how to identify fake job postings:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Use the common sense that God gave you. You as the buyer/potential employee need to be wary/skeptical because when you apply for work your social security number and date of birth are often disclosed with permission to do a credit, criminal and background check. Why is this the case? Many employers like banks, credit unions, mortgage banks/brokers and restaurants/night clubs need to be sure you have kept your financial promises (have good credit) and do not have a criminal record.
If the employer’s name, location, and industry are not disclosed, that’s a significant red flag for each non- disclosure – employer’s name, location, and industry. If not, why not?
If there is a fee/cost of employment/investment required that’s a giant red flag, perhaps the biggest red flag of all. Business opportunities and work from home business opportunities are completely different than employment (often fraught with scams, fly-by-night operators, and websites that disappear after they have your hard-earned dough). A required fee, costs, investment (often steep) is a dead giveaway that it is not safe, traditional employment.
When you are looking for a job with Disney or Disney Cruise Lines and the job posting forwards you to a different (fraudulent) URL, so instead of https://Disney.com/careers or https://Cruise-Lines.Disney.com/careers you are sent to http://disnay.com/careers or http://cruise-lines.disnay.com/ careers yikes! Either the spelling is changed, .com is changed to .net, .cc, .is or there is no https:// (fully encrypted website for consumer protection) just http:// instead or there is a change in the URL’s punctuation like Disney-Cruise-Lines.com vs. the legit Disney.com website. An established employer’s website will normally come up in the first two pages of Google search engine results vs. the scammers address will not, so double check if there is any doubt or you see other red flags. You must check for these URL changes every time you apply for work because highly skilled criminal hackers abound.
They communicate with you on social media messaging apps or text vs. the phone or employer’s email WhatsApp, Twitter/X, Facebook Messenger/Meta Messenger, Instagram DM, etc. Who is more credible an email from [email protected] or dansCEO1969 via WhatsApp? Who is more credible an employer who calls with a caller ID of Apple Inc. or dansCEO1969 via WhatsApp? Scammers want you to think they are with a prestigious, Fortune 500 or Most Admired Employer, but if they cannot demonstrate this by phone, employer website or email, then you know better.
You need to make a purchase of any brand-new equipment to handle the company’s state-of-the-art CRM system/ERP system etc. Many scammers now are pushing the purchase of an expensive new Apple iPhone 15, expensive software, or Laptop PC or both! This is a dead giveaway it is not traditional employment and very likely a scam, work from home scam or business opportunity scam.
If they are busy promoting a work-from-anywhere laptop lifestyle complete with photos/video of exotic locations like Phuket Beach, Thailand, Fiji, Aruba, Miami Beach, show people recruiting you driving $200,000 Ferrari’s, Gull-Wing Mercedes, Rolls Royce Phantoms, BMW or Bentley convertibles, million-dollar yachts or cigarette boats cruising along off the coast of Florida or lavishly furnished mansions (rented out by the day/week for photo/video shoots. These are huge red flags.
If you answer a job posting/ad in the employment section and they try to convince you that you can make a full-time living from the stock, FOREX or cryptocurrency markets, want to invest your money for you, so you can make a full-time living from the stock, FOREX or cryptocurrency market, or combine either of these with the aforementioned work from anywhere luxury laptop lifestyle. It’s not employment, it involves significant risk no matter how much they downplay the risk or claim zero risk/virtually no risk, the risk is significant and very real. Run do not walk away from these scammers because often behind the scenes these very same people/scammers take large short positions against their own clients and state a sucker is born every minute.
Real employers will not rush you or push you by saying only 10 spots left nationwide, 8 spots left nationwide, 6 spots left nationwide etc. In general, there will be multiple interviews (except for some sales, business development or temporary jobs that are mostly paid on commission and bonuses). Traditional employers will not rush you because hiring decisions are important, employee turnover and washouts are costly, and if they do rush you, it’s probably a sign that they have significant turnover, are in dire straits, or are a tier 3 or 4 employer vs. tier 1 or 2.
You are applying for work with a traditional employer, but somehow in the process it morphs into a business opportunity (1099 not W-2 with benefits) or mentoring opportunity with a master of the industry that costs $2,500-$10,000 with significantly increased earnings potential. It’s a cleverly concealed scam run do not walk away.
If the “job posting” is on a popular website where they cost to publish a job posting/advertisement is either free or dirt cheap be ultra wary. You should know websites that promote free or very low-cost job postings or advertisements will attract the most scammers. Example: On some work from home websites the fake job postings and business opportunity scam ads can outnumber the legitimate ones by a three to one margin. Note: Many legitimate small-medium sized businesses still use Craigslist to recruit new employees.
If you do a Google search on your Recruiter/Interviewer and there are no results, your interview is with a ghost. Real employers, hiring Managers, HR Managers/Directors, Sales Managers/Directors and Recruiters have Google search results that show they are in fact legitimate vs. Ghosts. Additionally, Recruiters get better and better with experience, and they will have more helpful industry-specific connections as well.
If the employer/hiring Manager/HR Manager/Operations Manager or Recruiter seems inexperienced, has misplaced priorities or wants too much private personal info – credit card numbers, SS#, date of birth, etc. that you already disclosed via the official application process on an official employer’s website. Real employers want to know if you are qualified, accomplished, trained and skilled appropriately, willing to work the scheduled hours they need most, live close by, if former employers would hire you back, have experience working independently (telecommuting/remote), are able to meet urgent deadlines while working remotely, and will fit in with their existing team. Scammers have other concerns and are mostly clueless on modern hiring practices.
If you wonder what scammers will do with your social security number, date of birth, credit card/debit card numbers etc. It’s worse than you can imagine. People have told me their entire identity, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts etc. were stolen. Others have told me they suddenly had $100K hospital bills for operations they never had or were billed on their credit card for five new iPhone 15s, new Mac Power Notebooks or deluxe Hawaiian vacations they never purchased. Yes, your time is valuable and maximizing your productivity in a job search is key, but be careful and stay vigilant for scammers!
If you would like to be winning from the beginning in your job search contact Darrell DiZoglio, Certified Professional Resume Writer at https://RighteousResumes.com you will be glad you did.
