Online job scams are increasing — through fake job listings, social media profiles posing as recruiters and scam texts or emails with nonexistent job offers — often powered by artificial intelligence tools or chatbots, according to a Sept. 12 report from McAfee.
In fact, the Federal Trade Commission reported $491 million in losses due to job scams in 2023, marking a 25% increase from the $367 million in losses reported in 2022, McAfee said. The median loss per victim was about $2,000 each.
Although social media and job-hunting platforms are identifying and deleting many of these spam accounts, some still get through. Beyond that, fake accounts can still reach job seekers through email and messaging platforms.
“For them, it’s a numbers game. They create high volumes of scam profiles, posts and messages — now made easier with AI tools — and reel in their victims who fall for their lures,” according to McAfee. “As the FTC’s data shows, just a handful of victims can reap thousands in return.”
Employers battle these scammers as well, often needing to rise above the competition of fake job posts and demonstrate legitimacy to job seekers.
McAfee pointed to red flags at the outset, such as requests for personal information, particularly Social Security or tax ID numbers, or promises of employment after job seekers pay for training, onboarding or equipment before starting work.
Other red flags may show up in the job offer itself, the report found, including offers that seem “too good to be true” with high pay and low hours, an extremely quick hiring process or an inability to provide an adequate response when asked for more details. Job scammers may also try to communicate only through email or chat, avoiding phone calls or video meetings, though some sophisticated scammers can now create deepfakes with overlaid faces and voices.
Recruiters can distinguish themselves from job scams by using established job sites, not asking for sensitive or personal information upfront and seeking in-person interviews when possible, a digital safety expert told HR Dive. Applicants may feel more secure when they can see the office and meet workers, which may be possible to do whether in person or online.
More broadly, job ads with pay transparency and a focus on skills can help land applicants, according to reports from Indeed. It’s important to be clear and specific; companies with overly broad pay ranges were seen as “dishonest” and “disingenuous,” job hunters told researchers at Washington State University.