Consumer

Awareness
Jobs and Employment Scams
 INTRODUCTION
Jobs and Employment scams refer to people impersonating other
well-known companies and offers you jobs so they can steal your
money and information. The scammers will offer jobs that pay
well with low effort, but often these jobs don’t exist at all and
the scammers make money off by scamming you into these jobs.
They often ask for payment so you can start the role and earn
the income you were promised.
 STatistics

Source:
https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-justice/wp-content/uploads/sites/304/2022/02/Briefing-Paper-Series-Feb2022-Issue21-17022022.pdf
 How Jobs & Employment Scams Work

Scams are unsolicited

You have been chosen from the student directory at your school to participate in the current Student Empowerment Program
PART TIME JOB OFFER..."

If you have experience applying for jobs as a student, you know that the job market can be highly competitive. Companies
usually don't extend job offers to a large number of individuals, nor do they randomly select candidates.

If you receive an unsolicited job offer, claiming to have discovered your profile through "your school directory" or "your
school job search," it is highly probable that you are being targeted by a scam.

Scams are generic

"Dear student, we obtained your contact information from your school directory..."

Generic emails that lack personalisation, such as omitting your name or the name of your school, are designed to be
mass-sent to multiple recipients. It is extremely rare for a legitimate company to extend job offers to a large group of
individuals, especially without them having applied or undergone interviews.

Job offer scams often feature vague job descriptions like "organise item orders" or "write detailed reports," and sometimes
they even lack any job description altogether.
 Example

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/18/22-year-old-goes-viral-for-sharing-job-scam-nightmare-and-red-flags.html

In the article above, Callie Heim, a 22-year-old individual, shares her account of applying for a job using LinkedIn's "Easy Apply" feature.
Initially, she underwent what seemed like a normal and promising interview process. She was asked a few questions about her marketing
background through an app which she was instructed to download (a red flag she now recognises).

The following day, she was invited to a phone interview where the interviewer discussed the job requirements, including the need for a
computer and phone to work remotely. Another phone call was made to her the day after, with a job offer (which she identified as red
flag No. 2).

After a series of further conversations, Heim completed employment forms, submitted a scan of her driver's license, and shared her bank
information for direct deposit setup. She was then informed that she would have to purchase her own home equipment upfront and would
be reimbursed for the expenses later.

In reality, this fraudulent scheme is known as a fake check scam. The scammers aim to trick individuals into sending them money under
the pretense of reimbursing them with a bad check. Sometimes, they send a check first and instruct the victim to deposit it, hoping that
the individual will buy the equipment (ultimately sending the scammers money) before the check bounces.

Fortunately, Heim realised it was a scam upon receiving the check, as it appeared obviously manipulated ("it looked so photoshopped,"
she recalls), and she did not send any money to the scammers. However, she had to take immediate action by closing her compromised
bank account and freezing her credit line.
 Laws/Consumer LAws Involved

In this scenario, a significant amount of laws were breached.

- Misleading or deceptive conduct: The scammers engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by posing as a
legitimate employer, conducting interviews, and making a job offer with the intention to defraud Callie Heim.

- Unfair contract terms: If there were contract terms involved in this situation, they may have contained unfair terms
that could be in breach of the ACL. Unfair terms are terms that significantly disadvantage one party and are not
reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the other party.

- Unconscionable conduct: The scammers have engaged in unconscionable conduct by taking advantage of Heim's trust
and vulnerability in seeking employment, almost causing her financial harm, and potentially damaging her
reputation.
 Outcomes

After Callie received the fake check scam, she realised something was wrong as she said that “it looked so photoshopped.”
She realised this before any money was sent to the scammers but she immediately had to close her compromised bank
account and freeze her credit line.

Although she didn’t suffer any financial losses in this scenario, she described the experience as humiliating and highly
impacted her confidence. She also felt embarrassed because she was so excited about the new job she was about to get and
shared it with her friends and family. “I went from excited to devastated in a month,” Heim says.
 Advice/Steps to prevent/protect

- Don't assume a job ad is genuine just because it appears on a reputable platform or website; scammers submit fake
advertising as well. If you encounter a scammer, notify the platform or agency.

- Never send money or provide your personal information, credit card, online bank, or cryptocurrency account data to
someone you merely met online, via email, or over the phone.

- Scammers may deceive you by offering you a modest reward in exchange for completing a job or assignment. Never
send your own money; you will not receive it back.

- Understand who you're dealing with. Contact employment agency representatives using phone numbers you found
online.
 More Safeguards

- Don’t be pressured to act quickly. A legitimate offer won’t require you to make a fast decision. If the offer sounds
too good to be true, it probably is.

- Don’t take payment or rewards to recruit other people.

- Be careful about including personal information such as your physical address or date of birth in your resume.

- Never send your passport or identity documents to an employer or recruitment firm, unless you are certain they are
genuine.
 Bibliography

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/18/22-year-old-goes-viral-for-sharing-job-scam-nightmare-and-red-flags.html

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/jobs-and-employment-scams

https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-justice/wp-content/uploads/sites/304/2022/02/Briefing-Paper-Series-Feb2022-Issue21-
17022022.pdf

https://blogs.deakin.edu.au/deakinlife/2023/08/17/beware-and-protect-yourself-from-these-job-scams-that-could-cost-you-th
ousands-of-dollars/