Looking for a job? Be careful not to fall into wrong hands. The growing number of people in search of a job in today’s time is leading to a massive rise in the number of fraud cases, reports Business Week. Impostors these days are hacking into corporate job sites and sending out emails as employers to people. This way they end up collecting personal and sensitive data like a person’s banking details, social security number, etc., and misuse it to their advantage.
According to a report by APACS, the number of fake job ads rose more than four times over the last three years in the U.K.
Highlights
- In 2008, there were roughly 313,000 cases of consumers registering complaints of identity theft to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
- As per the report by the commission, in February 2009, approximately 15% people said thieves had pulled out employment-related fraud with their stolen identities.
- This is an increase from 14% of 259,266 identity-theft complaints in 2007.
According to the 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report:
- Identity theft on the whole has been on the rise, reaching up to 9.9 million in 2008.
- Economic downturn contributes to this jump, since higher rates of fraud have historically occurred when the economy worsens.
Better safe than sorry
Experts recommend:
- People hunting for jobs should stay alert than ever.
- They should be careful before letting out any personal information, especially Social Security numbers or bank details.
- If a recruiter contacts you especially if you have not applied for that position, and asks for sensitive information, verify the background of the person independently.
- It is best to send your resume directly to corporate sites.
In case you have experienced similar frauds yourself, do share with us what you know.