How to avoid online scams in job market

China

Check for known 'red flags' 

Job scams usually contain certain common "red flags" that can alert you to fraudulent jobs. These include misspellings or grammatical errors in job advertisements, or a contact email address that is not the primary domain of the alleged organization. 

Other discernible clues that something is amiss include ads that require you to put in some form of monetary deposit before giving you access to or offering you the jobs advertised. 

Be wary if your bank account details are sought 

There are some types of job scams in which the applicant is asked to accept payment to his or her bank account. These payment-transfer scams usually involve a con artist who pretends to be an employer and uses fake job ads to lure unsuspecting job seekers and extract personal details and information from them. 

The scary thing is that such confidence tricksters can even go to the extent of stealing company logos and corporate names to convince jobseekers that they are legitimate employers. Always be wary of jobs that request information or personal details beyond your resume. As a rule of thumb, you should never give out your bank account details before landing the job. 

Post your resume anonymously 

The increasing danger of an identity theft or someone posing as an employer to gain an applicant's personal data are good reasons to post an anonymous resume. Many swindlers target genuine job hunters and obtain their personal particulars through fraud with the purpose of spamming them with business opportunities - which are more often than not fictitious and illegal pyramid marketing schemes. 

Avoid putting your home address, phone number or date of birth for resumes that you post publicly in case identity thieves abuse the information available to create bogus credit cards or take out loans. 

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