The scammers themselves are likewise posturing as LinkedIn employers, often directly reaching out to the people they’re targeting via direct messages.
For what it’s worth, LinkedIn is aware of this and taking action to purge its platform of these sorts of scams. However, this is still important for the general public, especially job seekers, to be aware of.
Amid the massive layoffs that are taking place in the tech industry, many scammers see now as a golden opportunity to strike.
How to spot employment scams
Despite the rise of employment scams, there are certain universal red flags for job seekers and the general public to be aware of.
In many circumstances, scammers are after the money of their targets. Therefore, if a job listing asks for banking information, wire/money transfers, etc., from applicants, it is probably not above board.
Other warnings of employment scams to be aware of are as follows:
- Lack of official email domains
- Typos or grammatical mistakes in emails/listings
- Position demands bringing in new workers
- Unclear job descriptions
- Communications restricted to chat apps
- Absence of online credibility
- Salary is only based on commission
- Seems too good to be true
