Stay Alert: Recognising Common Job-Hunting Traps
According to official guidance from the Labour Department, job seekers should remain vigilant when responding to job advertisements. Some fraudsters disguise their activities as recruitment to extract important personal data from job seekers, such as identity card, bank account and credit card details. At the same time, some fraudsters levy unreasonable charges on job seekers under various pretexts and guises, such as registration fees, data processing fees, administrative fees and the cost of work permits.
If a job involves per-level commissions (i.e. pyramid selling), sells goods at prices higher than those on the market, or requires payment of a large membership fee, and you are urged to recruit members (including relatives, friends and classmates) as downlines to earn profits rather than focusing on product sales, you should decline the job. In addition, if you are told you lack the entry requirements for the vacancy and are asked to pay your own way to enrol in a training course or other programme to improve your skills before being hired, you should be on alert, as this is likely to be a fake recruitment scheme aimed at swindling money.
Verify the Company and Role: Assessing Whether the Advertisement Is Reasonable
The Labour Department reminds job seekers not to readily believe recruitment advertisements that claim “no experience or qualifications required” yet offer “high pay and good benefits”, and to consider whether the salary and requirements of the vacancy are realistic and in line with market levels. Legitimate companies generally do not ask employees to bear any costs.
Regarding interviews, job seekers should keep personal safety in mind, avoid attending interviews alone at unusually remote locations, and pay attention to whether the interview process is excessively casual. Fraudsters may steal property or extract personal data during the interview, and then drain bank deposits or use the information for unlawful activities; they may also claim to be recruiting for online part-time work, promising that purchasing online game top-up cards on behalf of others can earn a service fee or commission, and then disappear after the job seeker provides the top-up card serial numbers and passwords, causing financial loss.
Protect Personal Data and Respond to Unreasonable Demands
During the online job-seeking process, if you need to provide personal data, you should carefully consider whether the employer’s request is reasonable and whether there is a risk of excessive collection of personal data. If an employer makes unreasonable demands, you should refuse outright and certainly should not carry out illegal work for the employer.
In short, job seekers should make good use of the anti-fraud information provided by the Labour Department and the Police, and carefully verify the background of the recruiting company, the role content, the fee policy and the reasonableness of personal data collection, so as to protect their own rights and interests.