Amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures and workforce uncertainty, including redundancies across a range of industries, employment scams are becoming an increasingly common threat for Australians seeking work or additional income.
“As part of the job search, applicants typically share a lot of personal information in their resumes, like personal details, contact details, and work history. Unfortunately, this makes employment scams particularly lucrative for fraudsters,” explained Martin Latimer, COBA’s Head of Financial Crime and Cyber Resilience.
“Many employment scams are designed to look legitimate. They may contain convincing job advertisements, professional communications and sometimes even fake interviews. It only takes a few extra steps to verify an employer and independently check a job opportunity, but it can make all the difference in helping job seekers avoid becoming victims.”
In this article, COBA’s Financial Crimes and Cyber Resilience team shares their top tips on how to spot and stop an employment scam.
What are employment scams?
Employment scams, also called job scams, come in many forms and can catch out even the most cautious job seekers.
In some cases, scammers impersonate employers or recruiters, asking for upfront fees purportedly going towards the job search, background checks, training materials, and other such expenses. However, once the payment is made, the “job opportunity” often disappears along with the scammer.
Scammers also post fake ads on classified ad websites, social media, or job boards, with these fake job ads mentioning attractive salaries or benefits like flexible hours or work-from-home arrangements. But these jobs don’t exist or may be linked to illegal activities.
“For example, applicants may be recruited as ‘financial managers’ and are asked to receive funds into their bank account before transferring the money elsewhere. These roles may list having an Australian bank account as a job requirement and promise a commission from the transfers as ‘wages’. In such scenarios, applicants may not realise they have been recruited as a money mule and are breaking the law,” Latimer explained.
Other scams are designed to steal sensitive information, using fake recruitment emails, websites or application forms that appear legitimate. The information collected may then be used for phishing attacks, identity theft or other fraudulent activity.
What are the warning signs of an employment scam?
While looking for a job can already a stressful process, it’s important to remain alert and look out for the warning signs of an employment scam.
Some of the red flags include:
- Job postings, emails, or correspondent with poor grammar or spelling errors
- Job ads that are vague or generic, with promises of quick and easy money or unrealistic salaries
- Prospective employers or recruiters who ask for upfront fees or costs as a condition of employment
- Unsolicited job offers from unknown sources, usually sent via email, phone, or social media
- A job simply involves receiving money into your account and moving it out
“When in doubt, take a second to research the prospective employer by checking their website, verifying their contact information, and looking at online reviews. Be cautious of any employers who don’t have an online presence, only communicate through online forms, or have negative reviews,” Latimer added.
Remember, if a job sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always double-check job listings across various job boards or official recruitment channels, and don’t make any upfront payments purportedly linked to a job.
Importantly, don’t share personal or financial information like your identification documents or bank details, with unverified or unknown employers.
What to do if you spot an employment scam
If you suspect a job or employment scam, report the scam to the National Anti-Scam Centre – Scamwatch.
If you lost any money, or shared any personal information with a suspected scammer, report the transaction to your financial institution immediately and make a report through ReportCyber.
“It’s important to remember that even if you managed to avoid losing money to a scam, it’s crucial to report the scam. These reports play a small but important part in stopping these criminals and helping protect others,” Latimer said.
To help yourself and others stay scam-safe, remember the simple, three-step “Stop. Check. Protect” method – take a moment before giving your money or personal information to anyone, make sure the person or organisation you’re dealing with is real, and act quickly if something feels wrong.