How to Avoid Job Scams in Canada

Written by Emmanuel Olutokun

Job scam is one of the sinister scam out there simply because the scammer preys on the desperation of the consumer. The presence of desperation often flings due diligence off the window. 

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 2019 reported job scam cases represented $3.2million losses. The impact of Covid-19 has further accelerated the increase in job scam. 

The spread of your applications means that your email address and phone no is probably on job boards and it’s easy for them to scrape and target.

We apply for quite a number of jobs it’s difficult to determine if this another fraudulent one. However, you can take these steps to determine its authenticity when you receive the messages. 

First is to check your mailbox or job sites personal account to check if you’ve ever applied for these jobs.

Second, search for the company on google, do not use the website link they sent to you, search as a text, it could be a phishing link.
Where does the first page searches lead to. Is there a social page, third party press release on the company, activities on the company 

Check out the website(if it ranks on Google) and find any useful information that gives a picture of who they are. If it’s a website with no in-depth information on the company, that should be a signal.

Third, check it’s social presence, search the company page on LinkedIn to see if it has staffs working with the company (past or present), you could even reach out.
Also, search out the profile of the HR Specialist that sent you a request. 
Some create fake profiles so this is not completely fool proof. 

If after doing this there’s still nothing that gives you a satisfactory information.

Next, is to dig deeper, Google has most information you just have to dig. Put the keyword ‘scam or fraud’ in front of the company name. That way it picks up any one who has had dealings with them. 
It can show information from forums like “Reddit or Quora”. This should guide you.

Finally, join a community that aligns with your career where you are exposed to learning about the job experiences of other people and how to avoid potential bottlenecks. It also helps filter out fraudulent jobs.

If after this, there’s no satisfactory information, stay clear.
And if for any reason you want to proceed with the application, do not give away your banking information, SIN or any personal information whatsoever beyond what they already have.

Most of them are crypto scam artistes and usually ask you to send your details or pay for stuff.

Remember, If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.