Laurier Cyber Security Newsletter – All About Employment Scams

With the holiday season fast approaching, employers are looking to hire additional help.
If you are thinking of picking up a part-time job to help pay for gifts or to earn a little money on the side, make sure you're applying to legitimate jobs and not falling for employment scams!

What are employment scams? 

Cyber criminals know that many students are interested in part-time and seasonal jobs. They capitalize on this by creating fake employment offers to steal personal information and money. Employment scams are often the most financially damaging types of phishing and email fraud that post-secondary students are affected by.

Phishing 

Some employment scams take the form of phishing:

• The fraudster offers you a job – they collect your personal information using a fake application attached to their message, or they may send you to a fraudulent website (sometimes asking for your password in the process).
• The information they collect can be used to commit identity theft, break into your accounts, or your personal information may be resold to other criminals.

Financial fraud

While some scammers are content with just collecting your password and taking control of your account, others may be more elaborate and attempt cheque fraud.

• Once a fake job offer is accepted, the fraudster will ask you to purchase “office supplies” using counterfeit e-cheques.
• They will ask you to transfer a portion of the money back to them while also telling you to keep some of the money for yourself.
• These cheques always bounce – your bank account will receive an overdraft and you’ll be responsible for paying back the entire value of the cheque.
• These transactions are often impossible to reverse, and there’s no guarantee that your bank will reimburse you for these losses.

How do I protect myself? 

Don’t go off brand name alone – Fraudsters often imitate well-known companies, as well as non-profit organizations like World Vision and UNICEF. You might be facing a scam if:

• The sender's email address doesn't match the organization's name.
• The sender is trying to direct you to an unfamiliar website.
• You can't find any evidence of the job opening on the organization's actual website.

Be cautious if it sounds too good to be true – If the wage seems too high, the employer tries to quickly hire you without an in-depth interview (or any interview at all), or you've never submitted your resume or application to the employer, proceed with caution. 

Email or text job offers are red flags – Many employment scams start with messages that are sent to a school email address, but ask you to reply using your personal email address. In other cases, senders may quickly switch to communicating via text messages instead. These tactics should be treated as a “red flag” - the sender is hoping to evade detection by ICT and get around email blocks put in place once their scam is discovered.

Be selective about who you share your information with – It’s never appropriate for an employer to ask for your password, and a reputable employer should not ask for your Social Insurance Number (SIN) or driver’s license number on an initial job application. 

Watch out for cheque transactions – Employers will never ask you to: 1) deposit a cheque and return part of the money to them, or 2) convert money from cheques to other currencies such as Bitcoin or gift cards. These transactions are a definite sign of a scam.

If you’re in doubt, reach out!

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when confronted with a scam.

Forward suspicious emails to reportspam@wlu.ca and contact the ICT Service Desk if you believe you may be the victim of fraud involving your Laurier account.

Contact your financial institution immediately if you suspect you’ve provided your credit card information or a bank account number to a scammer. 

When it comes to employment fraud, stay alert and stay cyber safe!