Scammers are employing cutting-edge strategies to appear trustworthy. To assist spread their deception, scammers create a convincing online persona using a "fake creator." They establish phoney company websites or copy real ones, clone real banks' websites, and generate papers that appear to be official employment offers, tax returns, personal information requests, and banking deposit information requests.
The Fraud:
1. You publish your CV on a job board (LinkedIn, Monster, ZipRecruiter, Facebook, Indeed, Craigslist, Kijiji, or CareerBuilder) or a con artist posts a job on one of these sites.
2. Scammer contacts you (they are very amiable, polite, and professional) with a job offer and arranges a video call, text message, or email interview. The following apps are used the most frequently for this purpose: WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Telegram, and messaging apps (TextFree and TextNow).
3. Soon after the interview, they offer you the position and provide you with various employment forms so they can get your financial and personal information. The following information will be requested, some of which is not unique because most businesses require the part of it when they hire you:
4. You are "hired" on a trial basis, where you must demonstrate that you are trustworthy and qualified for the position. This entails consenting to text the con artist about your daily activities and signing off for breaks to record your working hours; in other words, it involves establishing credibility and trust.Then they inform you that until your training is over, you will control your financial activities using your bank accounts. Early access to their financial accounts is a security risk for their business.
5. You get money via electronic transfers, or a fake company check or bank draught is sent to your address. For you or a client, this money is for "expensive equipment and supplies." You are instructed to send the money to the "customer" and deposit it immediately.
6. You must transfer the funds to the 'customer' using either Bitcoin or Ethereum cryptocurrency, iTunes gift cards, Interact e-Transfer, Flexepin vouchers, or direct deposit into a third-party bank account the con artist has provided.
7. This will continue until your bank notices the phoney deposits and transactions or when you decide this work isn't proper.
Banks actively keep an eye on the accounts in their financial institutions, and they usually spot fraudulent behaviour after one or two dubious transactions. When they do, your bank account(s) are locked down, and your mobile phone(s) are blocked, preventing you from online banking. This safeguards against fraud both for you and the banking institution.
Keep in mind that everyone is exposed to these frauds. Scammers create their intricate schemes with the assistance of numerous people as a part of their day job. They use real firm names and names of employees who are connected to the business in their plan. Victims frequently contact the company involved in the fraud after the con artists have vanished with their hard-earned money, only to learn that the company was never a part of the false employment offer. Social media platforms and job boards are aware of these scams and often spot and delete fake profiles and job advertisements. The EPS also collaborates with partners connected to internet sites and financial institutions to guarantee secure environments for users. Because information and photographs on the internet can be stolen independently of the website they are on, scammers cannot be stopped from posing as companies or their personnel. Therefore, we must inform the public so that they can detect fraud before it is too late.
You can submit your résumé and apply for jobs on online job boards in a secure atmosphere, but it's crucial that you take the time to investigate the offer thoroughly. Scammers will continue contacting you if you have fallen victim to this or any other fraud since they know it has in the past. Take the following actions to safeguard yourself and block their interaction with you: