How to Spot Fake Job Postings

Do your homework before sending off your résumé.

Looking for a new job is tough work. Who wants the added task of having to weed out fake online want ads from legitimate job opportunities?

When it comes to looking for work online, there are two types of job postings that require some critical thinking and background research before you submit your confidential employment information to a dubious advertisement. These ads are what I call potential “snoops” and “scams.”

Snoops

Snoops are anonymous job postings designed to scope out the job market, see who’s searching for work in a particular sector and gather sample résumé and cover letter content and data.

Since it’s very easy for people to create free, anonymous online job postings on sites such as Craigslist, some unethical businesses, and even other job seekers, may create fake job postings to see who’s out there looking for work, what their credentials are and how many job seekers are responding to ads.

You need to be careful responding to online ads that don’t identify who the prospective employer is, especially if you’re currently employed and you don’t want your boss to find out you’re looking for a new job. Many daily newspapers used to offer a filter service for both job seekers and employers. If an employer wanted to post a job without other employees finding out, the employer could purchase a PO Box number c/o the newspaper. Applicants responding to PO Box job ads could provide the newspaper with a list of businesses they didn’t want their applications forwarded to and then the newspaper would weed them out of the mail. Nowadays, online ads have no such filtering service.

If you choose to reply to a posting without knowing where you're sending your resume, be warned that your employer may find out, particularly if they've posted a fake ad trying to catch staff planning to jump ship.

Scams

Scams are deliberately misleading job postings designed to scam job seekers out of money and personal and private information. These are particularly loathsome as they take advantage of people who are genuinely and sincerely looking for work and who may be facing mounting financial stress. To avoid these types of fake job postings and protect your personal information, your money and your time, be on the lookout for the following signs that a job posting might be a scam.

1. Something about the job posting just doesn’t seem right.

Be on the look-out for these signs that the job posting is probably fake:

• The job posting looks and sounds unprofessional: poor spelling and grammar, vague or generic job descriptions, unreasonably low credentials required, unrealistically high compensation and benefits

• The job is for a company with a name that sounds very similar to a well-known, reputable company

• The name in the ad suggests that the employer is associated with, or a department of, the government. Look for signs such as national flags, emblems or official looking crests that are similar to images used on legitimate government websites and documents. Most online government job postings are done through the government's own website.

• The ad uses a free email address such as Gmail or Yahoo with an unprofessional username (i.e.; gigglefunnybunny@gmail.com). Likewise, if the username sounds too formal, the scammer may be overcompensating by giving himself a ridiculously official-sounding “username.”

• Anchor text and web addresses that don’t match the link in the URL preview pane

• Graphics, logos and images that are poorly pixilated -- this could be a sign that the site has copied logos and images from other legitimate businesses

2. The job posting asks you to pay a membership, subscription or finder’s fee.

If a job posting requires you to pay a fee in order to submit a résumé or move on to an interview, it is likely a scam. If you are asked to pay for training materials or web-based training seminars in order to even qualify to apply for the job, be wary. Legitimate businesses don’t require you to pay for your own training.

3. Watch out for job postings that ask for your private and personal information.

Don’t be tricked into disclosing any personal information that you wouldn’t include on your résumé. Private information such as your Social Security Number and banking information is only required after your prospective employer has presented a bona fide written job offer that you've accepted. There is no legitimate reason for a potential employer to know your personal and financial information during the recruitment phase. Be aware that it’s not hard for a determined fraud artist to cobble together all the information they’d need about you to apply for loans in your name of steal your identity.

Listen to your intuition, your gut, and your common sense when reviewing a job posting. And remember, if a job posting sounds too good to be true, it probably is.