Since a number of our clients and associates work in the “staffing industry,” we would like to bring the following article to your attention.
Cybercriminals have found a new way to trick gullible people. They post job openings online, ask applicants for their personal information and whether they want to pay a small deposit to supposedly confirm their identity. In reality, they give all their personal information to unscrupulous criminals. We receive several reports from victims at Cybercrimeinfo recently. We also warn the Fraud Helpdesk, which has recently received an unknown number of reports from victims.
Vacancy through “employment agency”
The job is a customer service representative position at a provider, or a position for packing work. To promote the job, the scammers misuse the name of a well-known employment agency. The latter, of course, has nothing to do with it. The temp agency is only used as a decoy to entice job seekers to apply.
Applicants receive a message via WhatsApp almost immediately after their application that they have been hired for the position. Sometimes a call for a phone interview follows first.
Job seekers who have been hired should sign an employment contract as soon as possible. To do so, the ‘employment agency’ needs a copy of their ID and bank debit card. To confirm their identity and bank account number, an ‘employee’ of the employment agency asks the applicant to transfer one cent. Since they work from home and get a company laptop, they have to pay 4.95 euros. They receive a message containing a rogue URL to transfer the amount.
Obviously, the fraudsters do everything they can to make the job application process seem as real as possible. However, whoever pays the scammers does not have a new job, but has been scammed. The victim is stuck with a subscription, or a smartphone is bought in his or her name. The Fraud Help Desk has also received reports from victims in whose name a bank account has been opened. In all cases, the cybercriminals are guilty of identity fraud.
Vacancy real or fake?
We advise job seekers to check carefully beforehand whether the job posting is real or not. Job seekers can look up the details of the employment agency, or contact the office by phone to ask if the job is real. The job may also be on the website of the company where you will be working. Fraudsters go to great lengths to make the job application process seem as real as possible. To be on the safe side, you can call the company in question to verify that there is actually a job posting out.
The most important tip is that you never have to pay to verify your identity or bank information. Want to know what your rights and obligations are when you apply for a job? Then read the article ‘Job applications and privacy’ from our partner vpngids.co.uk.
Internet criminals capitalize on current events
“Internet criminals capitalize on current events”, so warned Gijs van der Linden, team leader at the Landelijk Meldpunt Internet Oplichting (LMIO), last week. We saw several examples of this in recent weeks.
In late August, a phishing email circulated that supposedly allowed consumers to apply for energy surcharges. In reality, it was nothing more than a scam to collect as much private data from victims as possible. Hundreds of Dutch people fell for this scam and gave their personal data to scammers.
In late September, cybercriminals had come up with a new scam trick: firewood and wood pellets. To reduce gas consumption, Dutch people light their fireplace or stove for wood pellets. For this reason, firewood and wood pellets are in high demand at the moment. And scammers are jumping on this. They get consumers to pay for these products, but then deliver nothing. In a short time, the police received more than 500 reports from over 60 rogue web shops that had defrauded victims in this way.
Source: cybercrimeinfo.com, anonymous, fraudhelpdesk.co.uk, vpngids.co.uk
