Scammers are targeting candidates on LinkedIn, Skype, and even via text message
In this new glorious world of work, everything is online, remote, and detached. The global pandemic meant that HR teams had to pivot their organizational strategy overnight – leaning on WFH tech and tools. And while this move undoubtedly saved many businesses, it also led to a rise in cyberattacks and HR scams – most notably online recruitment fraud.
Someone that knows all too well about the dangers of HR scams and the ramifications it can have on legitimate businesses is Cuneyt Karul, senior director, information security and product privacy at Hootsuite. Speaking to HRD, he revealed that Hootsuite has been plagued by online scammers posing as Hootsuite representatives to dupe candidate out of time and money.
“The pandemic led to a rise in these sorts of cyber scams,” he told HRD. “Because we’ve been working at home for the last two years, the way we work has changed quite a bit - including the way we hire. Everything is online - through video calls. A lot of people were actually hired during the COVID period, myself included.
Read more: McDonald's director of people strategy on thriving in a pandemic
“There’s also a lot of movement in the in the market right now. People are deciding to quit their jobs or jump to fully remote roles. That created an increased volume of job seekers, all looking for new roles via job sites. We believe that the reason why HR scams are becoming more prominent is the increase in people who’ve been let go or have left their jobs looking for different, alternative working conditions – as well as the fact that most of the interviews are done online. There’s not really a good way to determine if something is real or not because everything is on a Zoom call.”
At Hootsuite, they’ve received a lot of complaints from jobseekers who’ve been contacted by fraudsters claiming they work for the company. These fake recruiters send legitimate candidates emails claiming to represent the company, before conning them out of money. Sometimes the scams are so nuanced that they actually conduct fake interviews online too.
“We started getting a lot of HR related scam reports over the last couple of months,” added Karul. “Initially they didn't look alike, but then we looked closer and saw the similarities. They’re initiated through a LinkedIn message, or through personal text messages sent to individuals. We're not sure how the contact information for these candidates is acquired, but we're guessing they’re found through public job posting sites. It's not very hard to get people's contact information or numbers nowadays. The scammers start a conversation and if the candidate responds, they say things like ‘we found your profile online, it's very impressive, we have a very good job opportunity here for you etc’. This is how they lure you in.”
Candidates should be aware of scammers asking for overly personal details or requesting deposits be sent. Legitimate job boards would never ask candidate to send any form of money – nor would they request bank details. So, what should a candidate do if they believe they’ve been a victim of a scam? Well, according to Karul, HR leaders should advise their people to report the crime.
“Report any suspected suspicious activity,” he told HRD. “If it’s a LinkedIn message, report it to LinkedIn, if this is coming from Skype, tell the Skype team. Just make sure you file an official complaint about it.”
Hootsuite provided an excellent resource on how to spot and eradicate HR scams – and revealed exactly what HR leaders should be doing to ensure these fraudsters don’t hurt your brand.
“As a final resort, we suggest getting in touch with sensors in Canada,” added Karul. “One of them is the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre. They have a place where you can file a formal complaint, which we did – and we advise you to do too.”
Read more: Tesla's head of HR resigns
