Scams are everywhere. There is no question about that. Scammers can reach their potential victims through so many different mediums. In today’s technology, most scammers rely on the Internet. However, that doesn’t mean that scams by way of telephone are obsolete. In fact, thanks to the technology that brought is VoiP services like Google Voice, scammers may be even hard to trace despite the fact that they would use U.S.-based phone numbers to make it look legitimate for the caller ID.
Today, we’re going to dive into recruiting scams. More specifically, scams that are done over the telephone. These types of scams are carried out by scammers who call their potential victims claiming to be a recruiter for a certain company. They claim to recruit people for a job. Your job at this point is to learn how these types of scams operate and how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim.
How They Operate:
It’s unclear when these phone scams started. But there have been a lot of reports as of late warning that these types of phone scams are on the rise. Thankfully, we use articles like this not only to make people aware of them, but also help you (the reader) protect yourself. Our mission: to stay one step ahead of the scammers. So how do they operate?
The purpose of the scammer is for them to extract money from you for the purpose of a “processing fee”. Some of them also are intending to steal your identity. Keep in mind that no job offer ever requires you to pay money for the sake of “application processing”. But for those who have never applied for a job before, especially younger people, they are more vulnerable to falling victim for a scam like this. And in order to look legitimate, the scammer will even create a profile on LinkedIn to make it look like they’re the real deal. But how do they get your information? Surprisingly, the get your information through job boards.
And then comes the part where they call you. They claim to be a recruiter for a major Fortune 500 company and promise you a job that has claims to have above-the-market salaries. They just straight up and say that you’d be perfect for the job. They don’t bother asking for your qualifications or experience at all. All they want is to close the deal and move onto the next victim.
Know The Warning Signs:
Making you aware of this scam is one thing. But knowing the warning signs will help you distinguish what is real from what is considered bogus.
They Initiate The Call: This is obvious. A scammer will initiate the conversation and not you. Clearly, this is not what a legitimate Fortune 500 company does.
If you’re interested in a job, one of the things that happens is that you initiate the process by applying for the job yourself. The only time a company would recruit someone to join their ranks is either by posting a job listing online by way of LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. Also, your local job fairs are a place where companies will recruit people to join their ranks. Almost no legitimate company would ever recruit anyone out of the blue just by calling them.
It Sounds Too Good To Be True: If it sounds too good to be true, it may be a lie. For example, a scammer can prattle on about the kinds of benefits you would receive if you got this “job”. Can you really work a job that gives you 20 hours a week and an annual salary of $72,800? Absolutely not. What about an entry level job with flexible hours and a high hourly wage? Nope. We can dream all day of having a good high paying job. But the process of getting one would be tough. You’ll have to go through a series of interviews initiated by some of the powers to be. But getting it after one interview over the phone never happens.
Badly Written Emails: By now, you’ve probably saw those scam emails from someone who claims to be royalty. Well, these emails are no different. They come with the same punctuation and grammatical errors. Also, a legitimate hiring manager often has contact information for the applicant to call back. These scam emails won’t have that. Not even a phone number in their signature.
Job Interviews Via Instant Messenger: There is no way an instant messaging platform like Facebook Messenger would be an appropriate setting for a job interview. Either you do it in-person or via Skype or Zoom (if the job offer is say…in another part of the country). This gives scammers an opportunity to extract information from you if and when they ask for it. The info they’d want is your bank information, social security number, or anything that is tied to your identity.
Take Other Protective Measures:
Aside from knowing the warning signs, you’ll also need to take protective measures to ensure that these scammers do not obtain your information and contact you by way of your telephone. Consider the following measures:
Know The Privacy Policy Of Job Boards: This is a big one. Most job boards will never give out your personal information like your email address or your phone number. But some scammers are often skillful in extracting that information by some other means. Be sure to review the privacy policy of whatever job board you sign up with.
Check Their LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn is an excellent place to see if they actually are the real deal. If you manage to find their profile, but have a few connections, you better keep your guard up. Normally, a recruiter or hiring manager will have a large number of connections. And to ensure consistency, they’re connected with pretty much every single “power to be” in the company.
Use Other Verification Methods: There are ways to look up emails of people today that work for Fortune 500 companies. If you know the email of the person trying to “recruit” you, you can look it up via Google. You can also contact the company itself and find the right person to speak to that can verify whether or not that person actually does work for the company.
My Final Conclusion:
Now that you are made aware of this type of scam, it is important to stay alert whenever a suspicious phone call comes your way. If you ever receive a call from someone claiming to be a job recruiter, there’s a good chance that it might be illegitimate. Don’t be afraid to take any of the necessary precautions above before making any final determinations. Also, never under any circumstances give out your personal information to people you do not know either over the phone or the Internet.
Do you have something to say, or any experience with being scammed by fake phone call recruiters? Do you have any questions in particular concerning phome call recruiter scams? If you do, please don’t hesitate to leave your comment or questions below, and I will be more than happy to get back to you.
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