A university student fell victim to a sophisticated fake job application scam email. The hacker, searching AngelList social media site, noticed that the victim’s profile revealed that she had a background in IT. Easy enough, the hacker found their email address and sent a fake job offer from the well-known cybersecurity company Splunk.
She did a Skype interview with a supposed HR person. Soon, she got a job offer after an online interview with the supposed CIO. Here’s where the scam cost the victim.
The CIO said they would pay for the victim to get new computer gear for their home office. The victim registered their credit card with a company account. The faker interviewer instructed her to buy the computer gear at an Apple store, and ship it to an address where “Splunk” would install security software. The gear would be sent back to the victim. But, the gear went to the fraudster and so did the victim’s credit card information.
Red flags of the job application scam
Job application scams take advantage of today’s online, world. In my April 2022 blog, Job offer scams, I recommended some fake job scam red flags. Here they are below.
- Why would a company contact you if you didn’t apply for it?
- The offer comes with a high salary, and it seems like anyone is qualified.
- One tactic is to attach a mock cheque to buy supplies and software or a laptop.
- If the fake recruiter states that they are hiring on the spot.
- Free email services. Legit companies will have their domain names in their email address. However, scammers are good at creating legit company domain names.
- They ask for personal information, such as your address and Social Insurance Number (SIN).
- Do a simple search before you click on any links when in doubt.
- Type in the company name and “scam.”
You can stay ahead of these fake job applications by downloading our interactive FRAUDSTER APP for Apple and Android, at www.FraudsterApp.com
