Fraudulent job postings are increasing around the country and false employment scenarios can result in a financial loss. Be aware of common scams with these techniques.
How It Works:
- Scammers post online jobs or email students directly with opportunities for administrative positions.
- You then receive counterfeit checks or other types payments and are asked to deposit the “funds” in your personal accounts.
- Scammers then direct you to withdraw the funds, use them to purchase goods, send a portion to a third party or back to the employer themselves. This if often under the guise of needing materials, equipment or software deemed vital for the job.
What To Look For:
- Does this job promise a large salary for almost no work, especially if I have little or none of the required experience?
- Does this position offer me a large payment or reward in exchange for allowing the use of my bank account?
- Does the contact’s email address match the company’s website domain? (i.e. JohnSmith [at] gmail.com rather than JohnSmith [at] companyname.com)?
- Are there multiple misspellings in the job posting or email?
- Does the posting focus more on the money I will make rather than the responsibilities of the job?
- Does this opportunity sound too good to be true?
- Does this posting appear on the companies website?
- Is the person contacting me an employee of the company on LinkedIn?
Who To Contact:
- If you are suspicious of a posting or email, end all communication with the employer and contact the Career Strategies and Engagement Office.
- Forward suspicious phishing or scam emails to security@brandeis.edu (ITS).
- If you have engaged with a scammer, please contact Campus Police at 781-736-3333.
- If the incident occurred completely over the Internet, you can file an incident report with the United States Department of Justice or by calling the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
Postings in Handshake:
We currently use a wide range of fraud detection methods including automatic checks, blocking known suspect email domains, and utilizing internal alerts for mismatched domains, which has helped ensure the fraudulent activity is very rare on the Handshake.
With over 40,000 opportunities posted each year, we make every effort to screen out fraudulent employers. If an employer on Handshake you are speaking with is identified as fraudulent, the account is suspended and you’ll be immediately notified. If you receive a suspicious email or phone message from an employer on Handshake, please contact the Career Strategies and Engagement Office.
Learn more about Fraudulent Job Postings. Learn more about the University’s stance on Third-Party Recruiters, Staffing Agencies and Other Types of Employment.
