Unemployed? Beware of Identity Theft Posing As Job Offers
That e-mail is tempting: you have been chosen as a “final candidate” for a high-paying, lucrative position. All that’s required of you now is to reply with some information, and you’ll be “on the list.”
You’re already signed up with several employment seeking lists. In your excitement, you’re not certain which of these the e-mail may have come from (or how the company got your private e-mail address).
But it can’t hurt to click on the link they’ve provided just to find out a bit more about the job, can it?
Identity theft experts say it can. New programs from the hacker underworld are targeting job seekers, and they’re more expert in appearance and harder to detect than ever.
Rising Unemployment Means More Identity Theft
The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that unemployment at the end of January 2009 rose to 7.6%, meaning a staggering 4 million more unemployed individuals at that time than 12 months earlier.
Theft prevention and law enforcement professionals agree that crime in general tends to rise during difficult financial times. Besides the obvious—the more desperate an individual is, the more likely he or she is to commit a crime—“professional” thieves also know a tough economy means job seekers are more willing to take risks in order to obtain employment.
This means a job offer may be jumped on with less forethought and research into its authenticity. Enter identity thieves, who use a job hunter’s sense of urgency to milk information that the individual might otherwise never reveal to a near-stranger.
Is it Really Legitimate?
If you receive an employment offer via e-mail, you may assume you somehow wound up on a new list and that your information was forwarded.
A reputable employment search website will not send your information to another destination without advising you first. (Be careful to read the terms of service on any job seeking website to make sure they don’t routinely sell, give away or forward any information to other agencies.)
On the other hand, some companies–particularly employment agencies–may routinely scan employment sites looking for candidates, then attempt to contact the individuals directly via e-mail if one is made public on the site.
If this is how a company has obtained your information, its human resources department should be understanding when you ask that the company go through the proper channels in order to submit an offer to you.
Be polite and succinct: “Thank you so much for contacting me. I am interested in hearing more about the position. So that I can keep my records consistent, please go ahead and submit your offer to me via (the name of the employment website).”
It’s unlikely that a hacker will persist by setting up a false company identity the website (which often involves a payment to the site) and re-contacting you.
Don’t Click That Link!
No matter what, don’t make the mistake of clicking on a link in a job offer e-mail. Bogus links (which are made to look highly realistic and could even involve pirated company “letterhead”) may contain viruses aimed at tracking you for passwords and more.
If a company contacts you and states, “We require that you submit your resume to us directly; please click on the following,” look up the company on your favorite search engine first.
If the company exists and there is a site for it, go there and look for Employment, Human Resources or Classifieds. If there is no page for submitting resumes, or if there is but the URL doesn’t match the one that was e-mailed to you, it’s very possible that the link is the work of a hacker.
Times are tough; don’t make them harder by falling into the hands of a scammer. To do so means a risk to your reputation, your credit and your checking account. Be aware, be savvy…and watch out for employment offers that really aren’t.
