Job Search & Offers
Spotting Fake Interview Invites and Job Postings
You've almost certainly heard the horror stories. Someone sees what looks like a great job opportunity and applies. They may even go through an interview process and reveal personal information, such as their birthdate, Social Security number, or similar sensitive information. At some point, they realize that the job is never going to actually materialize and that they've been scammed, placing them at risk for identity theft.
In today's technological world, where it's easy to create fake virtual office spaces, spoof web addresses, or otherwise impersonate a hiring team at a business, being able to spot fake job postings and interview invitations is critical to protecting your personal information and identity. In this article, we'll cover some easy ways to catch fake job postings, from checking URLs and email addresses to verifying that a person actually works with the company you (think) you're interviewing with.
Red Flags
There are a few things to watch out for in job postings that are red flags for scams and fake postings:
- "Company confidential". Unless it's an agency that takes applications for other businesses, this should be a big red flag. What company wouldn't be willing to advertise that they're looking for candidates for a particular position?
- Unreasonably high salaries. This one is either a sales position with a salary based on commissions with unreasonable expectations, or it's a scam that wants people to get excited enough about the salary to overlook requests for personal information.
- The job is constantly re-posted or has been posted for months. In this situation, nobody else has been willing or able to take a position with this company, which means you probably don't want to either.
- Uses "extremely" in regard to stress or hard work. Even if this is in an actual job posting, the company has unreasonable expectations. In most situations, the company wants you to jump through a lot of hoops for minimal - if any - pay.
- The company requires you to work for free or below minimum wage. In these cases, a post will require you to write a press release, provide a "sample" landing page to prove your capabilities, or a similar project. This is what a portfolio is for, and any work you provide will be used without a job offer being extended.
Similarly, there are red flags to watch out for in interviews as well. These can include:
- Asking for information that should be protected before a job is offered. This can include bank account information, Social Security number, birth date, or other protected data.
- Offering to send a large check as long as you send them money via Venmo or a similar app. The check will almost certainly bounce, and you'll be out the funds.
- Being vague about the responsibilities, workflow, salary, benefits, or other important factors. The company should know what it's willing to extend for that position.
Above all else, if the opportunity seems too good to be true, it probably is. Walk away before you invest too much of your time and effort into the process to feel comfortable doing so.
Verification Steps
When you see a job posting, and you want to make sure that it's not a scam, there are a few steps you can take to verify the posting and company:
- Check the email address. If someone is claiming to be from Samsung, but they have a Gmail email, there's a pretty good chance that it's a scam. Someone actually working from that company will have a company email or the email of a valid employment agency working with that business.
- Check the website. Look up the company's website to verify that it's a legitimate company. Often a simple search such as "Is (web address) a scam?" will give you a range of web results, including website age and similar details.
- Check for reviews of that company to verify that it's a legitimate workplace. A company that offers a lot of fake job postings and interviews will quickly garner bad reviews from people who have been taken advantage of.
- Contact the company to verify that the position is available. Some scammers will use legitimate companies to offer false positions, using tactics such as using an accented letter in a web address instead of the proper letter.
- While contacting the company, verify that the individual you're working with is a part of the company. Similarly, the person may represent themselves as a part of a company and copy an existing job posting to gain access to personal details.
Safe Responses to Avoid Scams
When contacted by a recruiter for a company, don't allow them to pressure you into revealing your personal or financial details. Tell them that you need time to look over the details that they are providing, then take that time to undertake research to determine whether the company and opportunity are legitimate or not. If you discover that the job listing is a scam, report the user to the job board that they contacted you on to protect other job seekers.
A Short Checklist to Fast-Track Scam Reviews
To quickly review an opportunity to determine if it's a scam:
- Is their contact information correct for the situation?
- Are they being vague about pay, benefits, responsibilities, or other factors?
- Are they asking for personal or financial information that is inappropriate for this point in the process?
- Is the company or person legitimate? Be sure to check for a similar but not the same web address.
- Are they asking you to work for free? This is never okay.
- Are they offering too high a salary? This is a sign of an unreasonable commission salary.
- Do they have unreasonable expectations?
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, there's a good chance that you should pass on the opportunity to limit your exposure to risk. Taking time to review these issues can help prevent loss of time, effort, and resources.