Career advice

Every day someone out there gets taken by a job scam. You might think it could never happen to you, but don’t get too complacent. Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and their scams are becoming harder to spot. Think you’re too smart to be scammed? Maybe. But, even smart people get taken by scams. You might be amazed at the amount of disbelief you’ll suspend when you really want to believe something because you’re desperate for it to be true.

Job scams come in different forms. Some are designed to steal money from the victim, while others may lead to identity theft. Others may trick people into participating in illegal activity, particularly, according to the BBB, positions involving package reshipment.

Some examples of how these scams work (also from the BBB):

• The company offers a position and asks the candidate to provide personal information, including their banking information, address, and Social Insurance Number. After that, the candidate is ghosted and never hears from the company again.
• After "hiring" the candidate, the company sends them a cheque and tells them to cash it and purchase job-related items from a specific vendor. The cheque later bounces, and the victim loses the money.
  
  Or, after the cheque is deposited, the company informs the employee that they were overpaid and asks for the money to be returned through a non-traditional payment method. Think gift cards, vouchers, wire transfers, or direct deposit into a third-party bank account(this should be a very telling clue). The cheque doesn’t clear, and, again, the victim loses the money.
• The candidate is hired with the condition that they pay for and complete specific training for the position. The company provides the required courses or directs the jobseeker to a third party. The victim pays for the training, then never hears from either company again.

Often, scammers use the names of well-known companies, like Amazon, Walmart, and Sobeys, like in this instance reported by the CBC in 2020, to trick you into believing they’re legit. In another example, the scammer that conned a 22-year-old Toronto woman was using the name of the clothing company, Aritzia. The CBC reported that Ivy Hotchkiss was scammed out of $3,485. Initially, her bank refused to reimburse her, but they, fortunately, changed their minds. Not everyone is going to be so lucky.

Signs the job is a scam:

Here are some signs that the job is a scam and that you should STOP engaging.

• They ask you to deposit a cheque or e-transfer and forward the funds to someone: No real employer will ever ask you to do this or anything like it. If you’re ever asked to do this, don’t. It’s a scam.
• You’re offered a job without going through a hiring process: Job scams may be posted on sites like LinkedIn, or you might be contacted by someone posing as a recruiter. Regardless, if you’re offered a job without going through an interview or the interview is conducted by text or a messenger app, it’s a scam. Reputable companies thoroughly vet potential hires. Always.
• All communication is conducted via text or some kind of messenger app like Telegram, Whatsapp, or Google Hangouts. This is not normal, and it’s not just the way things are these days in the age of technology. There is still a standard of communication used in the hiring process, and it’s not text messages or Whatsapp.
• It pays surprisingly well: You’re not getting offered a genuine data entry position for $30 an hour without doing in-person interviews. It just doesn’t work like that. When they’re offering you that amount and more with little to no vetting process, it’s a scam.
• Unprofessional written communication: A lot of fake job ads contain bizarrely written communications. Here’s an example of a message sent from a scammer that was featured in a story by Elliot Advocacy:
  
  ““For your consideration stand, You have good news, The good news is …. You’ve just been confirmed qualified for this position.You are now being given a chance to show your commitment,charisma,diligence and be a productive employee. My superior’s will reach your via e-mail or phone for your position offer-documents and your working paper’s.”
  
  This sort of writing is very unlikely to be connected to a legitimate job offer.
• You’ve seen the employees on the company website in Facebook ads for weight loss products (or somewhere equally suspicious): If it’s a company you’re unfamiliar with, and there is a company website, but it’s lacking information and the employees all look like stock photos, there’s a good chance it’s a fake website with fake employees. You can try looking up the pictures on Google Image Search and see what you can find.
• Emails are sent from free, web-based accounts like Gmail. Not that this is always a scam, but you might want to find out why they’re not using a company account.
• They ask for your credit card information. There is no job for which this should be required.
• They ask you for money. You should never have to pay a company to get a job with them.
• It sounds too good to be true.Unfortunately, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

What to do if you think you've fallen victim to a job scam

If you think you are the victim of a job scam, here are some steps you can take to protect yourself. 

• Cease all communication.
• Take note of everything that occurred and take screenshots of all communications. Save what you can.
• If there is any chance your account information could be compromised, report the incident to your financial institution.
• File a police report. Ask for the case reference number and the officer’s name and telephone number. Make sure the report states your name and SIN, and ask for a copy of the report.
• Report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. They can provide advice about  identity theft.
• Report to the job board where you found the job ad, if applicable.
• If someone is using the name of a legitimate business to run a scam, contact that business and let them know.
• If you think you might be at risk of identity theft, contact Service Canada and other related government offices.
• Contact Canada’s two major credit bureaus, Equifax and Transunion, to tell them you may have been a victim of identity theft. Order a copy of your credit report and ask about adding a fraud warning to your file.
• Keep a close eye on your banking and credit card statements for suspicious transactions, and contact your financial institution if you see any.
• If you think your computer, devices, bank account, or other accounts could be hacked, change your passwords.

For more, the Government of Canada website has a list of steps for reporting scams and frauds.

Don’t be hard on yourself if you fall victim to a job scam. Remember, it’s the scammers who are doing something bad. It’s not your fault, and you did nothing wrong.