DIERCKX & ASSOCIATES LTD

Internet scammers seem to become an increasing worry or problem, especially for online job-seekers. The scams usually target vulnerable people. You will probably have seen some the emails or ads whereby you are supposed to be tempted by high salaries in return for vague or suspect jobs such as receiving cheques or payments and transferring funds or resending packages. On other occasions you are supposedly approached by an employer that wants to talk to you but before that the employer needs all kinds of information that you would not want to give out, such as your credit card details or your bank account information so they can first o a background check on you.

Here a typical type of scam:

• A LOT FOR LITTLE EFFORT: the job advertised is typically what anyone would want, lots of money for little work.
• THE BAIT AND HOOK: before you can start working on this fantastic opportunity you need to part of either some of your funds or information you do not want to give out.
• THE SCAM: you have been lured into either an identity theft scam or a system that does not work and could even have you break the law. Your earnings will be virtually nothing.
• THE METHODS: you might find advertisements for such jobs in your email box (of you do not use a good spam filter) or on some community notice board, the local newspaper or even on a street advertisement sign. The job typically involves working from home, earning loads of money, for little work, no prior expertise required or very little and you may even find such qualifications as “guaranteed” or “proven system.”

Many of these schemes will turn out to be scams such as money laundering schemes, pyramid schemes, advance fee frauds or identity theft scams.

Here are some tips to protect yourself:

• ALWAYS BE SKEPTIC OR SUSPICIOUS about any unsolicited offer for a position that shows poor spelling or grammar and which supposedly come from companies that do not have a personalised email address. Has it ever struck you that these offers always seem come from some unverifiable yahoo, msn, hotmail,  gmail or other free email service address?
• DON’T GIVE OUT PRIVATE INFORMATION: Restrict the personal information you give out online. Unless you are signing an employment agreement, keep information like your passport number, drivers license details and bank information to yourself.
• STICK TO YOUR KNITTING. Stay close to home in terms of where your skills, expertise and competencies are and do not fall or the trap of companies offering high salaries for something you are not familiar with or for which you don not seem to require specific expertise. Look out for industry specific job sites and agencies or professional groups. They are less prone to be a target of scammers and often monitored more effectively.
• DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Where legitimate companies will do some due diligence prior to hiring you, the other way around you should at all times do your own homework and check out the company involved. Does the company have a website? Does the website list a physical address you can visit? Can you call the company? Does it have a list of contacts or people you can talk to? Is the site linked to genuine sites?
  You can do some additional check by visiting sites like the Complaints Board, the Ripoff Report or Fishbucket. Or try the company name with the addition scam in Google. It does not need to become a complete research project but I would recommend strongly that you at least do some homework before giving out your information.
• GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY. With all these social networks around you may well be able to identify someone that should be able to vouch for the legitimacy of the company involved: an employee, a supplier, customers, ex-employees. Sometimes the company will advertise endorsements: watch out for the unverifiable endorsements.
• CONSIDER OLD SCHOOL. It may sound completely out of the ordinary but have you ever considered to go for old school: local newspapers, associations, job agencies/recruitment firms, friends, family, and others in your physical social network. This may especially be of interest if you are looking for a temporary change or a not to dramatic career change. It may pay to keep things simple.
  

The FAIR TRADING ACT forbids anyone from misleading or deceiving another about the availability, nature, terms and conditions, or any other matter relating to a job opportunity. Section 12 of the Act reads:

Misleading conduct in relation to employment.
No person shall, in relation to employment that is, or is to be, or may be offered by that person or any other person, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or is likely to mislead or deceive, as to the availability, nature, terms or conditions, or any other matter relating to that employment.

Contravention if this provision could lead to a fine of $60,000 for a person other than a body corporate and up to $200,000 for a body corporate. (See section 40). Where you do run into false advertisements you may want to consider alerting the appropriate authorities. Such as for instance the Commerce Commission or the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and here you may find some interesting previous posts on the subject.

Happy Job Hunting

Filed under: FRAUD PREVENTION, SCAMS AND SCHEMES