Clever and skilled people have fallen into these “job phishing” employment scams

where smart and skilled people have fallen into these “job phishing” employment scams

Scams aimed at job seekers are nothing new. Not to mention the completely legitimate scam of being abused by employers, with phishing schemes using MLM, home product assembly, and job listings. However, the tendency to work from home and the anonymity of the Internet has allowed scammers to create more elaborate fake employment situations that are difficult to find. This is called “job fishing” and has the same job as cat fishing. Recent examples include months of fake jobs, traveling around the world on my dime, and abandoning real careers based on fake jobs. ..

The story of Mad Bird

For job seekers, Madbird looked like a dream opportunity. Headed by charismatic CEO Ali Ayad, the Human-Centered Digital Design Agency has captivated impressive executives in its decade of presence, with Nike and Toni & Guy on its client list.

In 2020, Madbird “hired” more than 50 employees, including sales reps, designers and supervisors. With the constant encouragement and motivation of their CEO, as everyone was working from home, sales reps get new client, designer, and supervisor supervision across email and Zoom. Worked on.But according to BBC survey, It was an elaborate trick. The company existed only on paper and online. Ayad registered the company in 2020 and began hiring people who apparently had no money to pay them, no clients or jobs. None of the 42 companies listed as clients on Madbird’s site worked with the company. At least six of its senior employees were just facial photos and resumes stolen from other websites.

The only “real” thing about Madbird was the employee it hired, most of whom were young job seekers who agreed to work for a payment promise after a six-month probationary period.

Ayad’s motive is ambiguous. Unlike most scammers, he didn’t seem to be looking for money from his employees. He may have started everything as a way to get the real company on track. Or maybe he liked the role of his boss and guy so much that he created a fake company as a whole, so his “employees” thought he was a great, important guy. ..

“Hollywood Con Queen”

For many years From around 2018, Mostly below the line Hollywood types (stuntmen, actors, photographers, location scouts, etc.) were invited to Indonesia, promising to work on major films to be released in China. The offer is made on a sudden call from key Hollywood people such as Amy Pascal, Deborah Snyder, Kathleen Kennedy, and those who are going to be employees are told to go to Indonesia and they are refunded. I promised to spend on airfare and hotel room.

Upon arriving in Jakarta, a Los Angeles contact asked to go to the movie location scouting and paid a driver who speaks little English to drive to various parts of the city. This lasted for days, eventually until Mark sniffed the mouse and went home.

The motives of the person behind the scam, such as Madbird (Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani, who is currently spending time on various crimes related to it), are ambiguous. He may not have benefited from plane tickets or hotel invoices, but only at the relatively small fees paid to the driver. Tahiramani impersonated not only Hollywood executives who spoke to the victims, but also their assistants and the voices of any man or woman involved in his fake film.

An unprecedented professorship at Harvard University

Nidhi Razdan Offering a professorship from Harvard University, She was ready to leave her home country for a new life in the United States. Among India’s most prominent newscasters, Rasdhan interviewed her on her phone about her job, checked her references, and she signed her employment contract with an annual salary of $ 151,000. But the money never came. When Razdan contacted Harvard, they informed her that she had no job. The entire employment story was an elaborate trick done online for reasons no one could understand.

The fraud has also targeted other prominent members of the Indian media, suggesting that its sophistication must have involved government intelligence and had political motivation, but the fraud The purpose of is ultimately unknown.

“It’s not what we’ve seen so far,” said Bill Marzac, Senior Research Fellow at Citizen Lab. Told the New York Times.. “This is a lot of work and there is no reward we have identified.”

How to avoid getting a job

The above three examples are elaborate and somewhat mysterious plans, but most job phishers are quick by asking for money directly or indirectly stealing your identity. I want to make money. Here are some tips for recognizing and avoiding both types of job scams.

Understand how easy it is to forge things online

According to the FTC, scammers advertise on the same spots used by legitimate businesses. And even if it doesn’t, it’s not difficult to make a fake look legal online. Based on BBC report, Madbird seems to have been tuned by one person, but was still able to forge a website, a LinkedIn profile for executives, and even a dummy participant in a Zoom call. Hollywood scammers impersonate compelling Hollywood executives without even creating a website. So understand how difficult it is to find a fake job.

Check the details

It may be easy to forge things online, but it’s just as easy to miss important details. For example, in the case of a scam targeting Indian journalists, the scammer’s cell number was from the United Arab Emirates, not Boston. And when one employee looked up the company’s address and found that it was connected to a residential area rather than a luxurious London address, the entire elaborate Madbird collapsed. So look for misspelling domain names, Gmail addresses instead of company domain names, area code for phone numbers, and so on.

doubt

If an offer to hire seems too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true, so unusually high salaries, jobs far beyond qualifications, and perks that most workplaces don’t offer. Please note the job description that promises. Not only does this help avoid work fraud, but it also eliminates a significant number of legitimate jobs that use tactics that are misleading to employment.

Investigate the company

Just Google search for “company name” + “scam” and you can save a lot of sorrow even if you are avoiding MLM scams. Google would have revealed that Madbird wasn’t mentioned on the web. It’s suspicious for a company that has been around for 10 years. You should also see how your company is described by your employees on sites such as Glassdoor, and check LinkedIn to make sure you have the connections that executives expect.

Consider the source

The unemployment rate is historically low, good Finding a job is difficult. It may be a sad fact, but most decent work is still done through professional and personal connections, not through sudden emails or postings on job boards. So ask yourself, “If this job is so great, why do they have to struggle to fill it?”

If you have any concerns, take them seriously

Multiple victims of Hollywood Conqueen interviewed in Chameleon podcast Details that Hollywood scammers have reported dispelled suspicions about their jobs. Please do not do so. If something doesn’t fit your sense of smell, take your suspicions seriously.

They are supposed to pay you

Companies pay you to work for them, except in the case of internships that reward you in the form of college credits or commission-only sales gigs. If you’re asked to work for a long unpaid trial period, and if you haven’t paid for your training, think twice. Whether you’re buying a product that you need to sell or paying for travel expenses, application fees, etc., you need to think three times before putting money into your work.

Call people again

The people behind both the Hollywood Conqueen scam and the Indian journalist scam both impersonate real people, so a simple “let me call your office back” fake both of these operations. May have revealed as. If you are using zoom, ask the camera to turn it on.

Don’t think it can’t happen to you

Experienced, smart, knowledgeable, and don’t expect to be scammed. Nidhi Razdan was a respected broadcast journalist with decades of experience, but she was still fooled.

Ask around

If you know someone in the industry related to a job, ask if you’ve heard of that company or if your job sounds realistic. Most industries are quite small in the end and people talk. If people who fell into the Hollywood scam asked around, someone might have pointed out a contradiction in the scammer’s story. If you don’t know who is in the field, try posting online.Post to a simple “Does this look legal?” Reddit r / scam board That may be all you need.

Report to authorities

It’s understandable to be embarrassed if you’re scammed by a hoax employer or someone else, but you need to report your story to the authorities. You may not be able to recover the stolen money, but at least you can help others or catch scammers. So tell the police, your friends, and social media. Hollywood scammers were arrested and eventually imprisoned for victims going to authorities and sharing their stories publicly.