The FBI recently posted an identity theft warning, which tells people about fake job postings on certain networking sites that allegedly steal your personal information and your money.
ZDNet reports that the FBI Internet Crime Center (aka IC3) tells about verification weaknesses in these networking sites. According to them, scammers are taking advantage of these weaknesses by using them to post authentic-looking job ads.
Any unsuspecting victim of these ads will then click. As a result, their critical personal information and money will get stolen. Furthermore, the FBI IC3 also states that the modus is threatening to damage the reputation of any company they impersonate.
The FBI posted a public service announcement detailing how the scam works. It basically involves how easy it is for anyone to post a job on such sites (even on official company websites or pages), whose identity verification systems are sub-par.
How The Scam Works
One can easily find these fake jobs alongside legitimate ones, which keeps them hidden from prying eyes. And once clicked on, the ads use certain techniques like links or "Contact Us" pages that either lead to spoofed sites, fake email addresses, and phone numbers that the scammers control.
The FBI also warns that scammers sometimes even go as far as to do fake interviews and hiring processes to enhance the illusion. To date, the bureau estimates an average financial loss of $3,000 per victim due to the fraud since 2019.
This happens after BleepingComputer warned about the same problem last year when they posted about how LinkedIn jobs can be faked and posted by anyone-including scammers. One of the worst things about a scam like this is that not even the impersonated employer can take the fake job down.
It wasn't shared which networking sites were heavy offenders, however, so be extra careful on your next online job hunt.
Read also: WhatsApp Users Beware: New Scam Leads to Identity Theft, Accessing Bank Account
Just How Big Of A Problem Is Identity Theft?
The short answer: pretty big. Talk about as much as $56 billion in total losses in 2020 alone, with the number seemingly increasing.
According to a report by CNBC, that was the estimated total amount of money that consumers lost to identity fraud. A massive chunk of the losses involved the use of tech, with scammers interacting directly via calls and phishing emails that trick victims into sharing critical personal information.
As per the research firm Javelin (those who came up with the $56 billion figure), each victim lost an average of $1,100 to the scams.
Projections for 2022 aren't too bright either, and CompariTech cites one reason: the pandemic. It was classified as the leading cause of fraud incidents in 20920 and 2021 when the coronavirus pandemic was at its absolute peak.
This means now that, in times like these, you can never be too careful with who you interact with, especially online. Identity theft is never something to be taken lightly.
Related: 5 Reasons Why You Should Take Your Online Privacy Seriously
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
