Job Scams Surge in 2023—Employment Cons Exploit Hopeful Job Seekers

According to new data from the Identity Theft Resource Center, there has been a surge in job scams in 2023 linked to the rise of artificial intelligence. AI-based job scams are a new concept that experts are urging the public to familiarize themselves with, as scammers have turned to using these tools to collect personal data under the guise of interviewing expectant candidates. It is easy to safeguard against job scams on shady websites or avoid suspicious email links that appear in your inbox, but when scams begin to appear on legitimate job sites—that’s when it gets tricky. With every step further into our digital-centered future, we need to become more aware of the threats surrounding us.

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Job Scams Surge in 2023—Employment Cons Exploit Hopeful Job Seekers

A recent report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that job scams went up by 118 percent between 2022 and 2023. Employment scams are not new by any means, but the drastic rise in them indicates that more con artists are taking advantage of the weak job market and the unbalanced shift towards greater AI adoption. Scammers have also started posting fake job ads on legitimate websites so the public is less suspicious of them. These ads appear in many different formats and across platforms, making it hard for a regular individual to tell which link is legitimate or fake. 

A job application gives scammers the perfect excuse to ask for a resume and other additional data, and these documents have the applicant’s entire background listed in it, including their email IDs and phone numbers. The criminals acquire any additional data they require from the interview process, and the public, anxious to find employment in this unstable job market with its trend of layoffs, hand over any information that is deemed necessary. 

When it comes to employment opportunities, many of us are more willing to hand over data without question. If an employer asks you for details of your bank account so HR can set up your work profile, you’re likely to trust that they need it and have it over. That’s what makes the job scams so easy to set up.

Impact of the Rising Job Scams

Putting up fake ads on legitimate job sites like LinkedIn can be very expensive so most people do not expect scammers to waste their money and time running a scam there. At first glance, giving a scammer access to a resume does not sound like a threatening prospect, but the extensive amount of personal data on those documents can make anyone an easy victim of identity theft. But that’s not the only consequence that was witnessed as a result of the job scam surge in 2023.

According to a Consumer report, the FTC had seen signs that the public had lost $367 USD million to business and job opportunity scams in 2022. This meant a median loss as high as $2,000 USD. The job scams weren’t just asking for personal information. In many cases, monetary transactions had occurred, tricking consumers out of their money in exchange for some work opportunity. Scammers occasionally ask for an advance to reserve the job post for a job applicant or ask them to pay to have the product shipped out to them. Some even require a certain amount of money to be transferred for the equipment required for the new job.

Stopping job scams from occurring is not just a priority for job seekers. Legitimate job sites plagued by scams can have their reputation ruined by allowing these fake ads on their platform. Such fake ads also throw doubt on the authenticity of the other businesses there, which may convince a business to go back to advertising on their own website. A job applicant who is burnt once is unlikely to give the same platform another go. Indeed, LinkedIn and other employment portals need to have better filters that keep such scams far from their platforms by thoroughly vetting the legitimacy of the posts. 

The Unfortunate Era of AI Job Scams

AI is expected to have a significant impact on the job market and this is something we’ve known for a while, but it goes beyond AI replacing jobs. We recently wondered whether AI investments were drawing resources away and causing the layoff trend to grow, for example with the recent layoffs are Microsoft, but now we find that AI is also helping scammers perfect their art. The Identity Theft Resource Center report found that scammers were using AI to customize their job postings and make them appear more authentic. 

Generative AI tools are used for many reasons and creating a fake job is a task easily within its abilities. AI also helps them localize the ad for a specific region or shape the post to attract the kind of applicants they are targeting, which is quite dangerous.

Apart from AI, the job scams surge in 2023 has also been linked to our reliance on the digital world for all our needs. We find jobs online, review them online, use digital transactions to get paid for them online, and also work remotely from home. Interviews are conducted online and after you’re hired, you could work for an organization for years without ever seeing the inside of the company building. All of these things combined make individuals more vulnerable, as a scammer doesn’t need to invest too much into setting up the scam.

How to Safeguard Against Job Scams—Awareness is Everything

You might feel intimidated by the surge of job scams witnessed in 2023, but that does not have to mean you have to treat every online job posting like it’s fake. Despite the surge, people get employed via job portals and online channels every day, and as long as you are cautious, you should be able to protect yourself and still find the opportunities you are looking for. A large part of the responsibility to stop job scams on these legitimate job sites lies on the sites themselves, but you can also become more alert by discovering and checking for the red flags.

There is no method that is 100 percent accurate as scammers are inventive and do their best to exploit vulnerabilities, so do not be too hard on yourself for missing less obvious signs. Just try to play it safe as much as possible.

• Verify every job posting yourself: A scam ad may have a fake business mentioned that doesn’t exist or it might misuse the name of a more popular business. Do some research to find their website and confirm they are hiring.
• Check the information they share with you: Some email IDs and websites can be deceptively similar to a popular business just to make you less wary of the role. Cross-check the details that are shared with you.
• Look up reviews for the company: Check on Glassdoor and see what others are saying about the business or search for the company online to see if it has come up on any complaints forums as a scam. You may not be the first victim.
• Don’t assume that legitimate job sites are protected against scams: Don’t let your guard down just because it is a popular platform, scams can occur anywhere.
• Don’t accept offers too easily: Any legitimate business will take its interview process seriously enough to test your knowledge or skills. Don’t trust a job that is just handed to you without any precedence.
• Don’t trust businesses that only communicate via text and email: If an employer doesn’t initiate a phone or video call and only communicates via written channels, request a video call so you can clarify your questions or understand your own role better. 
• Don’t trust job offers you didn’t apply for: Some fantastical job offers are circulated without you ever having applied for the position. Don’t click on their links and search for the company on your own. Seek clarification about how and where they found your profile.
• Don’t overshare: Businesses do not require all of your personal information right off the bat. Don’t share details about your bank account, driver’s license, or any other identification documents just because they ask for them.
• Don’t fall for free money or fake check scams: Read up on other monetary scams that are growing in popularity and assess if your situation feels similar.
• Look out for interview red flags: Some job postings are very evidently created haphazardly with placeholder text included and odd language and grammar throughout. If a post feels fake and over-the-top, you could also report the posting to the platform you are on so they can review it for themselves. Don’t overdo it and report every post with a few grammatical errors because there is room for human error.
• Ask for more information whenever you can: A scammer may agree to a phone call and present you with some generic responses to satisfy you but you are free to ask them more questions about the company and your role to check the legitimacy of the business.

AI-powered job scams will only get smarter with time and you need to be more alert whenever you start interviewing for a new role. As important as it might be to get hired, do not ignore the signs of a scam just to get a role that sounds too good to be true. There are some great opportunities out there and you may luck out and find them, but do your own research before you accept anything next time.

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