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By Adrianne Soh 

During the lockdown, many people are looking for jobs online as some companies have retrenched their workers. Scammers are also taking this opportunity to post fake job offers online and they are waiting for someone to take the bait. 

Before we agree to take a job offer, we need to ensure that the job is authentic and not fraudulent. Scammers who post fake job advertisement postings would usually target desperate candidates who are in need for a job. Their main motive would be to get easy money out of candidates who are interested in the non-existent position offered. Some scammers even opt to trick job seekers into giving their personal information so that they could use them for unethical purposes. 

The main reason for you to doubt the authenticity of a job posting is when it sounds too good to be true. Jobs that are offering an extremely high salary for a simple task would sound unrealistic and you should be wary before applying for it.  

Another telltale sign of a fake job posting would be spelling errors. If you notice a job posting with countless spelling errors, it might be a scam as professional human resource employees wouldn’t put up job advertisements with lots of grammatical or spelling errors. Fake job postings would also come with vague descriptions. Job related experience might also not be included in the advertisement. If you are still interested in the job, it would be wise to request for a full job description and also search for their company’s address online. If you are not able to look for an official website or an address of the company, it might be a scam. 

If you receive a fake job invitation by email, you should never click on any attachments or links provided as this would be an attempt to infect your computer with malware. The link provided would even lead you to a website that would request for your personal details for registration purposes etc. This would give scammers an opportunity to get your personal details that might lead to identity theft.

When you apply for a job and submit your resume, you should not be required to pay any fee. If the company requires you to pay them an amount of money before starting the job, you should know that it is a scam and avoid doing so. It is also wise to report them to the relevant authorities. 

You should also do a thorough research on the company which you would be applying for a job at. Also refrain from giving them your bank account information until you are truly certain that the company is genuine and when you have started the job. If you receive a job offer from an unknown company without applying for one, you should also be wary as scammers would randomly send emails to people and try to trick them into believing that they have been headhunted for the position that the bogus company is offering. 

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher