In this era when job vacancies being placed outside the premises of an organization is phasing out and replaced by online placements on job vacancies, there comes an attendant risk of being scammed by fraudsters who pretend to have job opportunities online. It’s even worse these days because a lot of people are seeking to work outside the shores of their native countries for obvious economic reasons.
Scammers take advantage of this to rip off unsuspecting job seekers. So, if you’re seeking for jobs abroad, you need to know how to identify fraudulent online job opportunities.
Here are some questions to answer that can help you spot a fraudulent job opportunity when you see one.
- Is the advertised job opportunity feasible?
- Are you being asked to supply sensitive information?
- Are you being asked to make any monetary payment?
Let’s take them one after the other…
DOES THE JOB OPPORTUNITY LOOK FEASIBLE?
This is the first thing you should look out for. Make sure that the prospects advertised for the job are feasible and realistic. What these scammers do most times is to lure job seekers away with enticing prospects like Visas, feeding allowances, all expense paid packages and the likes. This is however not to say that there are no legitimate jobs with similar benefits but if on critical examination it looks too good to be true, make sure you don’t go any step further.
ANY REQUEST FOR SENSITIVE INFORMATION?
Usually, when applying for jobs online, you’d be required to supply a copy of your CV. Your CV is supposed to contain all of the necessary information that the potential employer needs to have about the applicant. If apart from those details that are sensitive and the border of issues of personal as well as financial security are demanded, then you should know that something’s fishy. Information such as your credit card details, your insurance operations, and such likes are sensitive and should not be divulged to just anybody. These scammers can prey on such information to harm the victim in different ways.
ANY REQUEST FOR MONEY?
This is very common to many fraudulent schemes. Once you discover that the person or the agency advertising the job opportunity is demanding for some financial commitment from you, no matter how little, you should know that it’s a scam. You shouldn’t be paying to get a job, rather you should be getting a job to get paid. So, be wise and don’t trade your hard-earned money for nothing.
