How to Protect Yourself (& Your Business) From Employment Scams in Malaysia

If you’re reading this, chances are high that you’re an entrepreneur, employer, or even an HR manager at a small-to-medium-sized business. You’ve probably put a large amount of effort towards ensuring that the organisation runs smoothly, that your company’s brand reputation is strong, and that your business is a place where people want to work — and stay — for the good of their careers.

With employment scams on the rise, however, all your good work has the potential to be undone by nefarious parties. These are essentially false job ads or listings that are often posted online, with the intention of stealing personal information or even money from individuals looking for new jobs.  

But did you know that employment scams can also affect businesses? Whether you’re an employer or a potential employee, fake job scams can taint the reputation of companies in the long term, while job seekers also stand to lose out from these various scams.

What warning signs should you look out for?

Like all scams, the first step is to understand the tell-tale signs of a scam. In general, you should always be careful when sharing any personal information, particularly in the digital era where scams can be particularly easy to instigate. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shared a couple of warning signs to take note of in 2021: 

• Interviews are not conducted in-person or through a secure video call.
• Interviews are conducted via teleconference applications that use email addresses instead of phone numbers.
• Potential employers contact victims through non-company email domains and teleconference applications.
• Potential employers require employees to purchase start-up equipment from the company.
• Potential employers require employees to pay upfront for background investigations or screenings.
• Potential employers request credit card information.
• Potential employers send an employment contract to physically sign asking for PII
• Job postings appear on job boards, but not on the companies’ websites.
• Recruiters or managers do not have profiles on the job board, or the profiles do not seem to fit their roles.

Examples of employment scams

Be sure to use the warning signs mentioned above when looking for jobs — and for employers, it’s important that your hiring department is on the lookout for employment scams that impersonate your organisation. This is particularly important, as these fraudulent efforts may give your firm a bad name, especially with regards to hiring efforts. 

1. Fake job listings

Look out for job listings on various sites that aren’t from official sources, with other warning signs including false-looking job descriptions, missing contact information, or even inaccurate salary range data. 

2. Emails

Look out for phishing scams via email, with scammers sometimes sending fraudulent emails with links that — once clicked — invade your device with malware. This can compromise the security of your device/network, affecting your privacy and personal information. Again, be on the lookout for official emails, suspicious-looking links, and other red flags. 

3. Social media

Most of the time, this would happen over LinkedIn, although platforms such as Facebook are also used as a medium for recruiters (and employment scams). A good habit is to look through any mutual connections or past history of an account, and again, to be careful when sharing any personal information over the internet. 

At the end of the day, employment scams affect both employers and employees — and for both parties, it’s crucial to spot, and report any fraudulent forms as soon as you can.