Industry measures prove effective against job scams, say online job posters
19 September 2013
As an Old Bailey Court case that began last week highlights the issue of job scams, actions taken across the recruitment sector to improve security have reduced the chances of successful jobs scams occurring, according to companies that post jobs online.
Thu, 19 Sep 2013As an Old Bailey Court case that began last week highlights the issue of job scams, actions taken across the recruitment sector to improve security have reduced the chances of successful jobs scams occurring, according to companies that post jobs online.
Mike Booker, a director of totaljobs.com and a former chair of Safer Jobs, an industry-wide forum created to raise awareness and combat criminal activities against the recruitment industry, tells Recruiter that while jobs scams continue to exist, the industry has taken effective measures to crack down on them.
Booker highlights a number of measures taken, particularly by the larger job boards. These include:
Asked whether the chances of successful jobs scams have been reduced, Booker says: “Yes, I believe so. The industry is working together, it is sharing intelligence so that any instances of organisations or individuals that are considered dubious is shared with law enforcement agencies.
“It is also shared among the organisations that are working together to ensure they don’t become a victim of malpractice,” he adds.
A spokesperson for eBay, owner of Gumtree, tells Recruiter that security on the site has been beefed-up to ensure that the type of scam alleged in the Harrods case couldn’t happen. The spokesperson says that in 2012, the company introduced an “anonymous email address system”.
He explains that this ensures there can be no direct email contact between those who place job ads and candidates. All communication between the two parties must go through the Gumtree platform, he says, and this allows the company to control the process and monitor anything suspicious.
Mike Booker, a director of totaljobs.com and a former chair of Safer Jobs, an industry-wide forum created to raise awareness and combat criminal activities against the recruitment industry, tells Recruiter that while jobs scams continue to exist, the industry has taken effective measures to crack down on them.
Booker highlights a number of measures taken, particularly by the larger job boards. These include:
- Ensuring advertisers are who they say they are – for example, by validating the domain of their email address and their telephone number
- Greater use of automated usernames and passwords
- Identifying high-risk job adverts. For example, those originating outside the UK containing poor spelling and grammar, or containing requests for personal information, such as National Insurance numbers and bank information that candidates shouldn’t be expected to provide
- Advice to jobseekers on how to identify scams
Asked whether the chances of successful jobs scams have been reduced, Booker says: “Yes, I believe so. The industry is working together, it is sharing intelligence so that any instances of organisations or individuals that are considered dubious is shared with law enforcement agencies.
“It is also shared among the organisations that are working together to ensure they don’t become a victim of malpractice,” he adds.
A spokesperson for eBay, owner of Gumtree, tells Recruiter that security on the site has been beefed-up to ensure that the type of scam alleged in the Harrods case couldn’t happen. The spokesperson says that in 2012, the company introduced an “anonymous email address system”.
He explains that this ensures there can be no direct email contact between those who place job ads and candidates. All communication between the two parties must go through the Gumtree platform, he says, and this allows the company to control the process and monitor anything suspicious.
