Australians looking for work are increasingly being targeted by scammers posing as legitimate employers — and losing money in the process.
Victims are tricked into applying for what appears to be a real job by scammers impersonating high-profile companies and recruitment agencies, who then steal their money.
Jobs and employment scams are one of the the fastest-growing scam types in Australia, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) tracking a 150 per cent increase in 2023.
Here’s what these scams look like — and how to avoid them.
What is a job scam?
Job scams come in various forms but ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe told SBS that the greatest financial losses were being caused by those in which “scammers go to quite elaborate lengths to create the illusion of a real job”.
“A person might apply for a job that involves online task-based employment. They might have what seems to be a group chat with other employees. They’ll go through a process that looks like a recruitment process,” she said.
Scammers then ask for upfront payments to “unlock” the income they’ve promised.
“This is all an elaborate ruse to encourage a person to make small [payments] initially, then big payments to unlock alleged earnings that they’ve made through performing these tasks.”
“But in fact, it’s all an elaborate ruse to obtain those payments, and it’s only when a person stops paying that it becomes clear it was all a scam.”
According to ScamWatch, the scammers often impersonate well-known recruitment agencies or pretend to be hiring on behalf of high-profile companies and online shopping platforms.
There are also two other types of job scams to watch for:
- Bank mule scams: Where victims are unknowingly used to move money through their bank accounts.
- Fake qualifications: Where victims are encouraged to make payments to receive certifications for jobs that don’t exist.
“There’s no job, there’s no checks being done. It’s just another way, unfortunately, of obtaining money from scam victims,” Lowe said.
Why experts are concerned
Jobs and employment scams are not only growing rapidly — they also disproportionately target vulnerable job seekers.
“The other dimension of a jobs and employment scam that really makes it such an important candidate for action is, of course, people who are looking for work in difficult economic circumstances are already vulnerable,” Lowe said.
“We see some particularly vulnerable members of our community being disproportionately impacted by this scam.”
“It might be international students, people on low incomes, people from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, and people that might otherwise find it difficult to secure employment.”
How to protect yourself
The first step is knowing the warning signs.
“The key one is if you are being asked to pay money to make money, that is a really big red flag that what you’re dealing with may, in fact, be a scam,” Lowe said.
She also advises being suspicious of unsolicited contact.
“That could be a text message. It could be a WhatsApp message or someone reaching out unexpectedly,” Lowe said. “That’s a sign to be on your guard about the message that you’ve received.”
Other red flags include:
- Offers that promise “substantial returns for relatively simple work”.
- Messages claiming to be from “high-profile, well-known recruitment businesses”.
“If you think it could be a legitimate offer or opportunity, the very best thing to do is to independently check.”
“Don’t click on links, don’t call the numbers that might be in that message. Go to that company’s website or separately find their phone number and make sure that what you are dealing with is legit”.
