Insight From Semalt: Warning Signs For Internet Job Scams

Finding a job is a laborious task in itself as there's more supply of labor than demand for it. The large pool of job seekers out there makes up a soft target for Internet fraudsters and scammers. We literary come across hundreds of online job openings and offers online on a daily basis. You must, therefore, wonder if every single job offer is genuine or a scam. A genuine job offer is a positive step towards your career goals, and a fake job offer will cost you your hard-earned money, time and personal information.

In this article, Julia Vashneva, the Semalt Senior Customer Success Manager, highlights the most common tricks used by job scammers:

• Is it too good to be true? – Here's the deal, a job offer is too good for reality especially when you are contacted by a potential employer for a vacancy you did not pursue or even ever heard of. In such instances, scammers get your cv from job sites without a privacy policy and entice you with an irresistible remuneration package and platitudes of your competence and quality. Stay safe by posting your credentials on verified job sites with a strict privacy policy.
• Unprofessional Emailing– A scam always lies in detail. Scammers will spam your inbox with unsolicited emails most of which contain spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. Stay on guard for such inconsistencies.
• Vague Job Descriptions and Requirements– Job descriptions and requirements are meant to price unqualified candidates out of the contest. Scammers though attach ridiculous job requirements in a way that almost everyone qualifies. The job description and requirements for a genuine job offer must be specific and clearly demand certain education and experience levels.
• Emails from personal email accounts that lack contact information such as company name, address and contacts may also flag down a scam. In some cases, the scammer indicates strange reasons for using personal emails such as servers being down.
• Yahoo and Instant Messenger Interviews – Yahoo Instant Messenger is quite popular with job scams. Not all online interviews are fake but if you're invited for one online be shrewd by thoroughly researching the company before it takes place.
• When looking up a company online, you expect search results to be accurate and factual straight from the search button. If the information you find doesn't add up, then it could be a scam. Scammers may still disguise under legitimate company names and websites, but still, the internet can help you to flag it down.
• Request for Confidential Information – At times job seekers will be asked to reveal confidential information by phone or email or even make payments. This should be a warning sign, and job seekers should take caution.

• If a potential employer asks to use your accounts to transfer funds or send valuables or money then take caution.
• If potential employers ask you to make payments before an interview or actual job then it might end up being a scam. Legitimate companies will never ask for that.
• Last but not least, there's that inner voice warning you about the possibility of that job offer you're excited about being a scam.