Employment Scams

Employment scams can start with a phishing message. This message arrives in your inbox with an invitation to apply for a seemingly perfect job opportunity. Often the email appears to be from a reputable source and contains details of a job with lots of perks like working from home, a high rate of pay, and flexible hours.

Employment scams can also come in the form of fraudulent job postings. Again, the posting will be an enticing job with few requirements. It might claim to be from a reputable company but often the scammer will pose as a fake employee. Once someone has applied, the scammer might reach out to offer a job that doesn’t fit the original posting. You may even receive an offer like this for a position that you didn’t interview for, or that you didn’t even apply for.

Employment scams typically aim to get you to do one of the following:

• Ask you to purchase equipment with your own money and claim that you will be reimbursed later by the company.

• You are required to deposit money into your personal bank account and transfer it to unknown persons/companies or purchase gift cards.
• Send money for things like “training” that never ends up happening.
• Facilitate identity theft - by telling you that you need to send documents or identification to be hired.
• Ask you to click a link which installs malware on your computer.

Red flags to look out for:

• The job seems too good to be true (high wage, flexible hours, no experience required, work from home)
• Jobs that ask you to pay for training or equipment
• Jobs that ask you to provide personal information on the application/resume.
• A short job description with few to no job requirements
• The “employer” doesn’t have a company email or their email does not match the company email domain.
• The job posting or email contains lots of spelling or grammatical errors.
• You are offered the job before a formal interview.
• The job posting isn’t on the companies employment webpage
• The interview is conducted through Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, or no interview at all.
• You did not apply for the position.

• Go to the company website: Their website should look filled out and have accurate information (i.e. contact information, social media, company history, etc.).
• Read the company reviews on Google, Reddit, Indeed and Glassdoor.
• Ensure the phone number listed lines up with the location of the company.
• Research the company to ensure the contact is an employee
• Visit the companies hiring page on their website if applicable and apply through there

Read through and think carefully before responding to any messages/ posts. Do not provide personal information before being hired on your resume, application forms, or through online job ads including:

• Your Social Insurance Number.
• Your age, marital status, and date of birth.
• Your driver’s license number.
• Your health card number.
• Your banking or financial information.

Look up the name of the company or hiring employer, plus the words “scam,” “review,” or “complaint.”

Talk to someone you trust. Reach out to Careerspace directly for support.

Don't pay for the promise of a job. Legitimate employers will never ask you to pay to get a job.

Do not accept any cheques.

• Thousands of Canadians fall victim to employment scams annually, scammers are constantly finding new and hard to detect ways to scam job seekers.
• Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre- https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm
• Contact your local police department
• If you have given any banking information put a hold on your accounts and contact your financial institution.
• If you found the posting on a job board, contact the administrator.
• Contact Careerspace if you found out about this position through the Trent Job Board or from a Trent email address.

• Government of Canada: Report Fraud and Cybercrime: https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/report-signalez-eng.htm
• Government of Ontario: Identify a Scam or Fraud and How to Report:https://www.ontario.ca/page/identify-scam-or-fraud
• The Better Business Bureau scam tracker: https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker
• Peterborough Police Service Fraud Division: https://www.peterboroughpolice.com/en/learn/fraud.aspx#Ive-been-a-victim-of-fraud-now-what

Below are examples of employment scams. Example 1 is an email sent to an applicant sent after they applied for the fraudulent job posting in Example 2. Example 3 is a confirmed phishing email.

Example 1

Good Day,
I received your resume among other messages from interested applicants for this position. I will like to quickly brief you on the reason I need a personal assistant. As a consultant with a focus on international business, majority of my personal clients are out of the country so I travel a lot for a cordial business relationship which is why I need someone to help with my errands as I am constantly out of town. As a matter of fact I am currently in Warsaw, Poland on a business trip and the need of an assistant is urgently required to get my business running smoothly without loosing some of my clients back home before my return. You will be prepaid in advance for some shopping, Bill payments, placing and expediting orders, picking-up and delivering items to my PO box. The pay is $400 per week for the start and I want the best candidate for this position.

I will like to ask you some few questions.
1. In a simple statement, Tell me about yourself?
2. What are your strength?
3. What are your weakness?
4. Do you think you are qualified for this job?
5. Where would you like to be in 3 years?
6. What have you learned from your past job (if any)
7. What animal do you love the most and why?

Your core duties Shall be the following:
1. You will be responsible for some shopping.
2. Bills payment
3. Placing and expediting orders
4. Picking-up and delivering items to my PO Box. Your weekly routine should be between 10-15 hours.

I will provide you with sufficient funds and adequate instruction for every task. You will get directions at the beginning of each week on duties for the week till I return from my business trip. After my return your duties will be more of clerical. I will be sending the money for the errands plus your first week salary through my bank channel, the money will arrive in form of a Check. Do get back to me ASAP

Example 2

Example 3

I am sharing job opportunity information to students and faculty staff who mighr be interested in a paid UNICEF Part-Time job with a weekly pay of $500.00 (CAD).

If interested, kindly contact Dr Marc Cedric (Promarccedric@job-unicef.org) with your alternate non-educational email address. i.e. Gmail, yahoo, Hotmail etc.) for further details of employment.

N.B , this is strictly a work from home position