Don’t Let Identity Thieves Spoil Your Job Search

Posted on | July 14, 2009 | No Comments

According to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report, 9.9 million people were victims of identity theft in 2008.  The Federal Trade Commission’s February 2009 report revealed that 46,950 were the victims of employment-related identity fraud.  Both reports reveal a growing trend that you may already be aware of–identity thieves increasingly targeting job-seekers with identity theft scams.

States’ attorney general offices are seeing a surge in complaints from people who have had their identities stolen via a job ad on Craigslist or other job boards, via email, even via some company websites.  Scam artists are now creating fake job postings, advertising vacancies as if they represent legitimate companies or recruiting firms.  This is easy to do on Craigslist since there is little monitoring of who posts what and no verification of identity or affiliation required for job posters.  I could post an executive assistant job at Clorox, request that all resumes be emailed to me at any anonymous email address and wait for your personal information and job history to roll in.

Craigslist is an easy place to perpetrate fraud, but it’s not the only place.  Many reputable blogs, subscription-only job boards, and e-newsletters from professional associations also require little verification of the poster’s identity.  On behalf of a local nonprofit, I recently posted jobs on a popular eco-blog and in a respected magazine targeting the educators, without any proof that I was actually affiliated with the nonprofit.  I even used a personal email address.  As long as my credit card cleared for the payments, no one asked any questions.

That’s not to say that all sites are so lax.  Even those that require verification before posting are subject to scam artists with fake identities and to hackers.  Hackers break into the companies’ servers and steal application information.  Hackers use this information to create emails that appear to be from the company and request further information to process your application, set up an interview or offer a job.  These hackers sell your biographical information, work history, and if they can get it, your social security number, to people who need fake IDs to get jobs or to establish credit.

So, how do you avoid such determined thieves?

5 WAYS TO THWART IDENTITY THEFT WHILE JOB-HUNTING

1. Don’t put your social security number on your resume, or enter it into an application form (One caveat: Government jobs require applicants to provide social security numbers)

2. Unless you’ve received and verified a job offer (call the company and ask to speak to the person with whom you’ve been corresponding), don’t provide your social security number to recruiters or others who claim they need it for background checks or offer letters

3. Don’t respond to email or calls from companies unless you have actually applied for a job there

4. Where possible, apply for jobs via companies’ website, not via ads on job boards

5. Avoid adding your resume to resume databases

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