Beware of job scams: verify the company and the vacancy
Job seekers should pay attention to the content of job advertisements and should not readily believe adverts that claim “no experience or qualifications required” yet offer “high salary and good benefits”. They should check whether the salary of the vacancy and the requirements are in line with reality and market levels.
Before responding to a job advertisement or attending an interview, one should verify whether the company is legitimate. A legitimate company will generally not ask its employees to bear any costs. If you find that the work involves multi-level commissions (i.e. so-called pyramid selling) and the goods sold are more expensive than those on the general market; or you are asked to pay a large membership fee; and you are persuaded to recruit members (including relatives, friends and classmates) to become your downline staff, thereby earning profits rather than focusing on product sales, you should decline the job.
Watch out for unreasonable fees and personal data requests
Some fraudsters pose as recruiters and levy unreasonable fees on job seekers under various pretexts and names, such as registration fees, data processing fees, administrative fees and work permit fees. If, during a job search, you are told that you do not meet the entry requirements for the vacancy and must pay for a training course or other programme to upgrade your skills before you can be hired, you should stay alert — this is very likely a fake recruitment scheme aimed at defrauding you of money.
Some fraudsters also pose as recruiters to extract important personal data from job seekers, such as identity card, bank account and credit card details. During the online job search process, if you need to provide personal data, please consider whether the employer’s request is reasonable and whether there is a risk of excessive collection of personal data.
Interview safety and dealing with unreasonable demands
When attending an interview, always bear your personal safety in mind. Avoid going alone to an unusually remote location for an interview, and be alert to whether the interview process is excessively casual. Fraudsters may deceive job seekers out of their belongings or extract their personal data during the interview, and then steal the job seeker’s bank deposits or use the obtained information for unlawful activities. Alternatively, they may claim to be recruiting for online part-time work and promise job seekers that they can earn service fees or commissions by purchasing online game point cards on behalf of others. Once the job seeker provides the point card serial numbers and passwords, the fraudster will sell the points and disappear, causing the job seeker to suffer financial loss.
If an employer makes unreasonable demands, you should refuse outright, and never carry out illegal work for the employer.