I know that we’d all like to think that LinkedIn is populated with people who know and trust each other, but any time you make a vehicle for communicating with several million people for free, you’re bound to have a few bad apples. It seems that a common payment transfer job scam, this particular one propagated by “H & S International Limited” (see a Google search on the scam reports) has made its way onto LinkedIn. Here’s an image, as the link will probably be broken by the time you read this:
Just be careful. If you’re currently in the job market, be sure to follow these Critical Tips for Job Seekers to Avoid Job Scams.
Hat tip to Wendy Van Vechten for spotting and reporting this.
I suspect we will see this more and more on LinkedIn and elsewhere. This morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, there was an article that suggested “Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace that were once exclusively for social purposes are now increasingly being used for recruitment — and that will blossom even more this year. Employers are using these sites to promote their job openings, their corporate cultures and even their benefits all in an effort to encourage you to apply.”
First of all, I realize that Linked in wasn’t used exclusively for social purposes. Let’s move beyond the obvious . . .
Many corporations and recruiters use these sites, but are the sites accomplishing anything for those seeking jobs? In other words, corporations spend loads of money elsewhere promoting their brand to potential customers and employees, are these sites just another venue? Are they effective? And, what does the individual job-seeker get from all this?
http://carterfsmith.blogspot.com/2008/01/are-social-networks-really-that.html
I was looking for a Personal Assistant position in the Denver area. The scam came from ZBT, LTD, advertising for a part time personal assistant.
I have nothing but grief with Linkdin, scammers are everywhere!!!
Those few bad apples make you wary of all the apples, which is a shame. Instead of being encouraged to connect, you become apprehensive.
It’s scary that the scam ads are virtually indistinguishable from the valid ads. You wouldn’t know until it was too late.
you cant be too careful but you also dont want to cut yourself off from a great opportunity for connections
Maybe some sort of filter could be created, where an admin determines the legitimacy of an ad before it is available to the public.
I have come close a number of times, for falling for these scams. The internet has really become a mine field that is getting more and more difficult to navigate.
Although the rule doesn’t always apply, I tend to believe that if an ad looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
At one point, I did assume that LinkedIn would be a safer forum, but of course, as long as there is an opportunity, scammers and spammers will take full advantage.
The ‘critical tips’ is exactly what the title says, a list of the biggest things to avoid. However, scammers are smarter these days, and will even allow you to work for a bit, setting up a trusting relationship, before tricking you out of your money.
Anytime a site becomes popular the scammers will move in quickly. I think Linkedin has done a decent job keeping a lot out. But don’t be fooled. They are still there. We are still responsible for doing our due diligence and tips like these definitely help.
- J
Oh yeah, this is only getting worse, as a lot of retirees re-enter the job market. They have had long time careers with a single company and are super vulnerable and get sucked in believing these ploys are common practice, too afraid to ask for fear of looking stupid or out of touch.
Ask me, I know. But never again.
I think it’s just a fact of life at the moment that wherever people are, scams will follow. We just need to be prudent and remember to do our own due diligence.
This is a real salutary warning. I have been using LinkedIn for several years and found it wonderful to keep in touch with previous work colleagues. I guess like most users I thought such a professional site would be untouched by the kind of scam you described. Horror!
I´ve read somewhere in the web that social networking sites are now the top phishing target so we have to be carefull and always watch where the URL is going.
It’s true that there are scammers on Linkedin. As a professional site it can sometimes make people let their guard down a little – but you still have to be careful.
OMG! Too many scams lurking on the internet today. Please be careful guys!