by by Dia Buchanan, Belmont University
Meet Kerry – a 20-year-old college sophomore nursing major at a local institution. Kerry is a first-generation college student, eager to move into off-campus housing at the start of her junior year. In order to do that, Keri must find a part-time job to begin saving money. Kerry qualified for federal work study, however all the on-campus jobs are filled. A friend suggests that Kerry search the online job board of University Career Services for a position. She finds an opportunity that seems ‘too good to be true’, and that it is!
At the request of the employer, Kerry provides confidential personal information which results in a large withdrawal and loss of funds from her bank account. Devastated by this outcome, Kerry contacts University Career Services to investigate this listing and educate herself on fraudulent postings.
Fraudulent postings are a significant problem at universities of all types, sizes, and locations. While we would like to believe that all contacts made with our career centers are legitimate and trustworthy, this simply is not the case.
Due to the increasing number of fraudulent positions, phishing scams, and questionable employment opportunities; it’s extremely important to properly review positions that are sent to us.
Preventing Fraudulent Activity
- Create detailed Job Posting/Recruiting Policy that verifies required information and types of opportunities not posted.
- Have multiple staff within office check the posting. (i.e. Student Assistant and FT Staff)
- Make employer vetting the priority
- Require Complete Company Information
- Valid website, commercial address, email with domain name, working phone number
- Look for the geolocation to match, verify commercial address, validate website
- Check company website to locate email domain
- Resources: https://www.domainiq.com/ and http://mailtester.com/
- Search for companies on CareerShift
- Require Complete Contact Information
- First and Last Name- No generic name ( i.e. Recruitment Team)
- Use LinkedIn to verify Contact
- No Personal Email addresses (Gmail, yahoo, outlook)
- First and Last Name- No generic name ( i.e. Recruitment Team)
- Require Complete Job Profiles
- Consider making required fields in the job description
- Investigate Spam Reports
- Rip Off Report: www.ripoffreport.com
- Riley Guide: www.rileyguide.com/scams.html
- Better Business Bureau: http://www.bbb.org/
- Conduct an Internet search using the organization’s name and the word “scam” to see what comes up
Educating Students on Fraudulent Postings
- Be concise with wording to students
- Ask students to sign agreement or ‘terms of use’ before using career services management system
- Provide access to “Common SCAM Content” and “Protecting yourself from Fraud” documents via website
- Put notification on website and in policies and procedures
- Host Employer Panel or Workshop that discusses appropriate ways to job search
- Have Coaches/Counselors mention tips in one on one appointments
- Communicate policy and educate faculty via newsletter
- Work with international students to educate this population/incorporate into OPT/OPT workshop
- Partner with Faculty and include content in presentations in the classes
- Create Marketing campaign around Preventing Fraud
- Include a “Tip of the Day” on Social Media
- Display poster outside of Career Services office
- Post article in school newspaper on fraud jobs
- Create Podcast on dangers of fraud jobs
Follow-up and Follow Through
If a Fraud Position is approved and posted…follow these suggestions
- Communicate via phone or in person with the informant
- Close the Job. Remove listing from website or system
- Maintain database of known scams; do a regular check/swipe within Career Services system
- Contact the legitimate company so they are able to inform their partners
- Example- Biogen- Victim Employer of Fraud
- Send note to career colleagues, consortium members, LinkedIn/NACE message boards and listservs
- Notify the Following:
- All students who viewed the job as well as the searchable student database
- (Send an email to) career colleagues, consortium members, LinkedIn/NACE message boards and listservs
- Campus police and/or legal if they would like to be involved
- Job board software provider (e.g.,Handshake, GradLeaders, Symplicity, etc.)
- Consider filing a consumer complaint and contacting the following:
- The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- The Better Business Bureau (BBB)
- Federal Trade Commission
- Local Law Enforcement Agencies
Talk it over:
- Does your institution have a standard posting policy?
- What proactive (not reactive) steps is your team taking to prevent fraud activity?
- Are you currently communicating best practices with students?
- What suggestions can you take from this article and implement today?
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This article was adapted from a 2017 Employer Relations Summit session created and presented by Dia Buchanan. Recognition and kudos are given to Summit participants that provided suggestions, content and feedback. See what great resources, knowledge and professional development opportunities are gained at our annual Employer Relations Summit? Register today (hyperlink: http://www.soace.org/employer-relations-summit) for this year’s event.
