When Fake News Gets Personal: Job Offer Scams

“I am glad to inform you that due to your level of experience and your working skills, the company has decided to hire you as one of our Data Analyst (REMOTE)… On behalf of our firm, I congratulate you on your achievement.” 

Emailed Response to a LinkedIn Online Job Application… for a Non-Existent Job

Most of us, at least those in mired in the old world of emailing, have received one or more “now hiring” emails, sometimes from a named individual. Some require in-person, on-site services for companies that are actually looking for workers. Others invite applicants to apply for remote services, often an attractive alternative for job seekers with childcare responsibilities or those with limiting medical conditions. The employment solicitations are hardly relegated to emails (or texts); legitimate jobsites are also possible carriers of fake employment offers. Even LinkedIn.

Jaimie Ding, writing for the January 15th Los Angeles Times, tells us: “Some [job] scams were obvious, but others were tougher to spot — including one that involved a web address similar to the real company’s domain name, [one online applicant] said. In that case, she applied through LinkedIn and was asked to download an app called Wire for further communication.

“LinkedIn spokesperson Autumn Cobb said members should report scammers and utilize new features to job-search safely, such as information on when profiles were created and warning labels on ‘potential high-risk content.’… ‘Unfortunately, scammers are becoming more sophisticated,’ Cobb said. ‘We use a combination of human reviews and automated defenses to prevent job scams and we encourage members to watch for signs of potential fraud at every stage in their job search.’… LinkedIn said it proactively removed 87.1 million spam or scam items in the first half of 2022… Indeed said the site encourages users to report suspicious job advertisements or make a report to the police if they feel it necessary…

““Scams have been around for as long as people have, but employment scams have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic as remote positions become the norm and employers become increasingly dependent on online forms of communication… The number of job and employment agency-related scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission nearly tripled between 2020 and 2021, from 7,324 to 21,848 in the third quarter of each year.

“‘Scammers always follow the headlines and are looking to exploit the things that people need in any given moment,’ said Kati Daffan, assistant director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, which responds to consumer fraud. ‘So we saw a lot of offers — that people could work from home, that people could have flexible jobs, that people could make a lot of money without too much effort.’”

So, what’s in it for the scammer? Aside from purloining lots of personal private information from the applicant, which can be sold to more nefarious malign actors, there are those scammers who have figured out how to get applicants to write checks. Sandi Pounder, who received the above cited email, was one potential victim, who got that job offer within 48 hours of applying, via LinkedIn. She had provided a resume and filled out an extensive questionnaire.

“A subsequent email from HR told her she would receive a long list of equipment at her home in Monta Vista, Colo. — including an Apple iMac Pro, external hard drive, file cabinets, HP LaserJet Printer — that she could purchase using a check that would be mailed to her… The process couldn’t have gone more smoothly — until she opened the official offer letter. It was addressed to ‘Greeshma.’… Pounder quickly discovered she was the target of a job scam, an elaborate ruse to trick desperate job-seekers into handing over their personal information, and in many cases, their money…

Pounder, 52, was reentering the workforce after taking some time off and selling her home in Wyoming. She had several years of experience in IT, mostly business systems and data analyst roles… The company she had applied to work for was a legitimate architecture firm based in New York, and though the pay was lower than she would normally accept, it was a remote role and she was interested in working in architecture. Though she never spoke to anyone during the application process, she figured it was just how things worked in a pandemic-transformed world… ‘That should have been a red flag from the beginning … if I hadn’t been busy with other things,’ Pounder said.

“She also double-checked that the person who initially reached out to set up an interview matched the name of the person on LinkedIn listed as the hiring manager. After receiving the offer letter addressed to the wrong person, however, she decided to call the architecture firm to confirm her position.… They told her their LinkedIn account had been hacked… Others have also reported encountering fake recruiter profiles for legitimate companies on LinkedIn and other job search sites such as Indeed.” LA times.

CareerAddict.com notes a few obvious red flags to watch for: if it’s too good to be true or the job description is vague. The text of the email or text is unprofessional or off base. If the contact information is missing or a requested interview is to take place in a chatroom. There are inconsistencies in Web-based information after a detailed search. If the offer was sent from a personal email. If too much personal information is required or if money transfer is involved. If you have to pay a fee or buy equipment. If the job offer is unsolicited. If the job is to be performed 100% from home. And sooner or later, you need a real person with real questions and real knowledge about the offering company and the specific job in question.

“[Many] have also reported encountering fake recruiter profiles for legitimate companies on LinkedIn and other job search sites such as Indeed… Heather Lagaso, 42, has been on the hunt for a remote job since her role in compliance and records management at the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health division was cut in November 2021… In 2022, she encountered 67 fraudulent job postings, almost all on LinkedIn or Indeed, she said. She’s been keeping track of the listings in a document she shared with The Times… ‘I was honestly looking for anything that offered ... a home schedule or some sort of flexibility with it,’ due to her son’s medical needs, said Lagaso, who lives in Gervais, Ore. She noticed many of the jobs were in customer service, personal assistance or things involving logistics or dispatch… Some scams were obvious, but others were tougher to spot — including one that involved a web address similar to the real company’s domain name, she said.” LA Times. Yup, red alert.

It’s bad enough when our most basic political system is increasingly built upon a quicksand foundation of fake news and conspiracy theories. But when those purveyors of falsity also reach into the personal world of those in need, seeking legitimate opportunities, it hurts even more.

I’m Peter Dekom, and so much of the “information” we receive every day are intentional falsehoods, increasingly targeted at individuals with specific vulnerabilities and biases, that we all need to develop a pattern of healthy skepticism that is not born from conspiracy theories or actors with hidden or obvious manipulative agendas.