Job vacancy fraud, a form of phishing, is on the rise. Scammers pose as recruiters or post fake job ads on social media to steal personal information or money. Below are several tips to help you protect yourself against job vacancy fraud.
How can you recognize this type of phishing?
- Never respond if you are contacted through anonymous channels such as Telegram or Signal. Recruitment agencies only use their official channels to reach you.
- Check the country of origin of phone numbers carefully. Belgian recruitment agencies will never contact you using a number from outside Belgium.
- Pay close attention to the job ad provided. Recruitment agencies will only send links to vacancies published on their own website. They will never share job ads with links to other websites.
What should you do if you encounter phishing?
- Never make payments requested via social media channels. A recruitment agency will never charge fees for their services to temporary workers.
- Never share personal information such as your phone number, bank account details, credit card information, or national ID number through these channels. Recruitment agencies collect this information only through their official platforms.
How can you stop phishing?
- Block and report the unknown number. Scammers often try to target multiple people at once. Reporting the number to social media platforms can help stop them quickly. If the scammer pretends to be an existing recruitment agency, contact the real organization immediately.
- Have you already made a payment? Report it to the police right away. Collect screenshots of the conversation as evidence against the scammers.
- Above all: when in doubt, contact legitimate recruitment agencies. They know what messages they send and can clear up any doubts about possible phishing attempts.
Messages related to job vacancy fraud can also be forwarded to suspicious@safeonweb.be
Every message is checked: both the link and any attachments. If it is indeed an attempt at fraud, the authorities can take action.
Stay alert!