Con Job: Hackers Target Millennials Looking For Work
Employment scams pose a growing threat as applications and interviews become more digital.
By Kelsey Gee
The Wall Street Journal
August 16, 2017
Khawar Latif suspected fraud from the start.
In May, the 25-year-old founder of a domain registration business, who lives in Sialkot, Pakistan, received an invitation to chat about a job with someone claiming to represent the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
“See your website and like to discuss with you about our new job post if you are available,” read the message Mr. Latif received onMicrosoft Corp.’s Skype internet-calling service. The person also sent him a file to download.
Mr. Latif contacted the Washington, D.C.-based Wall Street regulator, which quickly confirmed the person didn’t work for the agency and that Finra had no external Skype accounts.
Hackers attempt to hook tens of thousands of people like Mr. Latif through job scams each year, according to U.S. Federal Trade Commission data, aiming to trick them into handing over personal or sensitive information, or to gain access to their corporate networks.
Employment fraud is nothing new, but as more companies shift to entirely-digital job application processes, Better Business Bureau director of communications Katherine Hutt said scams targeting job seekers pose a growing threat. Job candidates are now routinely invited to fill out applications, complete skill evaluations and interview—all on their smartphones, as employers seek to cast a wider net for applicants and improve the matchmaking process for entry-level hires.
Young people are a frequent target. Of the nearly 3,800 complaints the nonprofit has received from U.S. consumers on its scam report tracker in the past two years, people under 34 years old were the most susceptible to such scams, which frequently offer jobs requiring little to no prior experience, Ms. Hutt said.
Sydney Wang in California bought nearly $30,000 worth of office supplies for a fake job she was tricked into applying for this past January. After the 27-year-old made the purchases for a made-up employer using the name S.M.L. Digital Agency, the fake hiring managers she had been in touch with about the assignment for weeks disappeared, she said.
“I was desperate for a job. I thought I did my due diligence but we were tricked,” said Ms. Wang, who had been sending out resumes and interviewing for a full-time role for seven months before she was duped. She now works as a receptionist.
Investigating the source of job scams can be a yearslong effort, involving coordination from law-enforcement agencies, technology companies and financial institutions.
Cybersecurity research firm Dell SecureWorks in 2015 uncovered a network of dozens of fake LinkedIn profiles, which it suspects were being used by hackers in Iran to build relationships with potential victims around the world. The hackers posed as employment recruiters to deliver fake job applications containing malware, said Dell SecureWorks senior security researcher Allison Wikoff.
Khawar Latif suspected fraud from the start.
In May, the 25-year-old founder of a domain registration business, who lives in Sialkot, Pakistan, received an invitation to chat about a job with someone claiming to represent the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
“See your website and like to discuss with you about our new job post if you are available,” read the message Mr. Latif received onMicrosoft Corp.’s Skype internet-calling service. The person also sent him a file to download.
Mr. Latif contacted the Washington, D.C.-based Wall Street regulator, which quickly confirmed the person didn’t work for the agency and that Finra had no external Skype accounts.
Hackers attempt to hook tens of thousands of people like Mr. Latif through job scams each year, according to U.S. Federal Trade Commission data, aiming to trick them into handing over personal or sensitive information, or to gain access to their corporate networks.
Employment fraud is nothing new, but as more companies shift to entirely-digital job application processes, Better Business Bureau director of communications Katherine Hutt said scams targeting job seekers pose a growing threat. Job candidates are now routinely invited to fill out applications, complete skill evaluations and interview—all on their smartphones, as employers seek to cast a wider net for applicants and improve the matchmaking process for entry-level hires.
Young people are a frequent target. Of the nearly 3,800 complaints the nonprofit has received from U.S. consumers on its scam report tracker in the past two years, people under 34 years old were the most susceptible to such scams, which frequently offer jobs requiring little to no prior experience, Ms. Hutt said.
Sydney Wang in California bought nearly $30,000 worth of office supplies for a fake job she was tricked into applying for this past January. After the 27-year-old made the purchases for a made-up employer using the name S.M.L. Digital Agency, the fake hiring managers she had been in touch with about the assignment for weeks disappeared, she said.
“I was desperate for a job. I thought I did my due diligence but we were tricked,” said Ms. Wang, who had been sending out resumes and interviewing for a full-time role for seven months before she was duped. She now works as a receptionist.
Investigating the source of job scams can be a yearslong effort, involving coordination from law-enforcement agencies, technology companies and financial institutions.
Cybersecurity research firm Dell SecureWorks in 2015 uncovered a network of dozens of fake LinkedIn profiles, which it suspects were being used by hackers in Iran to build relationships with potential victims around the world. The hackers posed as employment recruiters to deliver fake job applications containing malware, said Dell SecureWorks senior security researcher Allison Wikoff.
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