How To Get Sucked Into Privacy Data, Scammers, And Jobfishing Wrongs by Mark Anthony Dyson

When fake jobs are at the end of each road, it doesn’t matter how you got there.

I have a question for employers who keep their jobs posted for months after fulfilling them:

What are you doing with the data you’re collecting from applicants you have no intention of hiring?

It’s “job-fishing.”

At the intersection of fake jobs come companies masquerading as actual ones. They double down on using digital tools to fool desperate or savvy professionals with illusions.

The bait: an easy hiring process and 100% remote work.

A recent job seeker told me a large company recruited them for a data job. Like clockwork, they were, but the scammers convinced the “new hire” to put a check from the scammers (with a slightly different company name) in the bank so they could buy a laptop and software from an outside vendor.

The “new hire” or “victim” asked me if this was a trend. Yes, small start-ups are hiring faster. But, large companies, “I don’t think as quickly as you got hired.”

I looked up the company; as plain as day, its site clearly stated its hiring process. The victim said, “Oh, these are exceptional circumstances. We have to make an exception in this case.”

My thought: “Suspicious as a purple squirrel.”

I asked for the names of the people they talked to and researched them. I started on Google but ended up on LinkedIn. These names were actual employees who were both active LinkedIn users. The profiles were legit, but were they the callers the victim was hired by?

I made the following suggestions:

Connect with the users and write them a note:
“Thanks so much for hiring me and guiding me through the process. I hope you don’t mind connecting.”

My thoughts: Both people will respond, “Enjoyed talking with you…” or “I didn’t talk to you.”

The victim didn’t want to do it. He trusted whoever was on the phone.

The results:
The bank held the check for several days and verified it was fake.

Lesson: Fake jobs are a grey line, separated by intent or not.

So, the intersection of fake jobs wastes a job seeker’s time and space.