Looking for a new EA role (or side hustle)? Spotted the dream job working from home (WFH)? Pause – and do yourself a favour by making sure it’s 100% legit.
The popularity of WFH plus more people looking for a lucrative role in a tough economy has given cybercriminals lots of opportunities to steal personal information, demand money upfront, etc. Executive PA can’t quite believe an estimated 14 million job seekers are faced with job scams each year – and this results in more than $2 billion (USD) in direct losses, according to the Better Business Bureau.
Writing for Readers Digest, LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher laid out all you need to know – and we’ve summarised it for busy EAs…
Scam types
They’re likely to be either:
- Fake applications: You’ll be asked to complete a (phony) application and the scammers will steal your personal information.
- Fees and fake payments: You’ll be asked to pay for something upfront – maybe a (fake) background check, certification, training or equipment purchase.
Popular scams to watch out for
- Pay-for-training: You get the job. Then you’re asked to pay for virtual training or a certification that’s essential for the role. They might even reassure you that you’ll be reimbursed for the upfront payment in your first pay check.
- Equipment-buying: Like the above, you’ll be told you must buy certain equipment upfront to get the job done, and they may promise to pay you back.
- Resume refreshes: Here, a phony recruiter will try to persuade you to pay for a CV upgrade so you can find the best WFH opportunities.
- Overpayment: All is well… Until your first paycheck arrives for more than you were expecting. The boss will ask you to send back the difference – they get money but guess what? You don’t, because their payment to you will bounce (and you probably won’t know this until after the fraudsters have your payment).
- Identify theft: Whilst innocent forms asking for details like your name, address and phone number probably seem okay, anyone asking for something more sensitive (maybe to perform a background check) should arouse suspicion.
Watch out for suspicious signs
- Does it sound too good to be true? It probably is!
- Has the offer come from something you didn’t even apply for?
- Or did it come far too easily?
- A vague job description is unlikely to be good.
- Similarly, lacking or non-existent company information should raise alarm bells.
- Is the wage consistent with the usual level for that role?
- A company or recruiter that isn’t willing to chat via phone or video isn’t good.
- Asking you to download encrypted software to continue chatting? Don’t do it!
How to stay safe
- Research the company – Is there a website? Does it look legit with plenty of contact information, etc.?
- Check out your contact – Does the recruiter you’re talking to actually work there? Are they on the website? Ensure their e-mail address is from a company domain, not Gmail or Yahoo.
- Feel secure with a verification badge on LinkedIn – An identity verified by LinkedIn is good news.
- Beware of classified ads – Because scammers will be all over these free-for-all platforms.