Category: Tech Today
With unemployment at incredibly dizzying heights everywhere, it's easy to be seduced by a job offer. It's sad that there are people out there who are taking advantage of the desperation of jobhunting new graduates or professionals who have been let go due to the global economic downturn.
Hoax emails are more carefully planned out then ever before with the false recruiter maintaining contact and asking for requirements. They also target overseas applicants from countries well-known for their globe-trotting workers. These "headhunters" even pretend to "process" the papers for an interim to complete the illusion of anticipation for the jobhunter. Desperation and the seductive promise of financial security after long weeks/months of jobhunting can make anyone vulnerable to such cruel designs.
However, in the same way real headhunters research applications using social networking and search engines, you can validate a job offer too.
Initial Contact
The first email is often coursed through a well-known medium such as LinkedIn or as in the example below, Monster.com.
There's an effort to make the email as professional as possible but the initial email already has suspicious signs that betray the sender. There's no specific job position named in the email. In the example above, John Kyrle High School is real and the address can be validated using Bing or Google Maps. However, their website does not list any openings. More importantly, the recruitment manager's contact details and his name are vulnerable to an extended search. A quick call to the school shows that there is no such person as "Richard Burffett". The email address also makes use of a free email service (Microsoft's Live.com domain) and the email intentionally misspells the school's name. Finally, a dead giveaway is the use of the expression "kinda match the requirements" - a recruiter from a British school would never use such informal language.
In this example, John Kyrle High School is well-aware of the scam and has already posted warnings on their website. A diligent jobhunter would immediately dismiss the email. However, some may not be as fortunate and proceed to the next step.
Acknowledgement Letter
Once documents are submitted, an email is sent acknowledging receipt. Note the grammar, the sentence structure and the poorly typed email.
The Contract Letter
The most disturbing and convincing portion is the contract letter. This step is more likely the most planned save for one point - no personal contact was initiated or offered at any point during the process. No interview occurred. The whole interaction only happened over email and highlighted by a contract that has too many perks and too impressive a job offer.
The last email is cleverly written with official sounding names, a reference to a Barrister Jane Darwin and the UK Boarder Office. The school in question had already noted the existence of hoax email on their website but if an entity or institution wasn't aware of such criminal activities then the poor jobhunter might be deluded by the contract.
The contract written in MS Word itself is poorly written (formatting alone is suspicious), but could trip up a casual and eager fresh graduate. The eventual outcome, of course, will involve money and a bank account. Once personal information is disclosed, anything from a siphoning of funds to identity theft will occur.
Final Warning
The Internet is a useful tool for information as well as crime. The likelihood of people being led astray by such scams are increasing as more and more people get online. As developing countries increase access to broadband and as wireless Internet becomes ubiquitous, more effort should be given to educating the casual user. Hoax emails have been around since the beginning of the Internet but they have become more and more sophisticated with social networking assisting criminals go about their schemes.
For jobhunters looking for an opportunity to get free from their unenviable position, take caution and be wary. The easy way is often misleading.
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