Verifying the company and the role
Job seekers should pay attention to whether a recruitment advertisement is realistic and in line with market levels, and should not readily believe in roles that require “no experience or academic qualifications” yet offer “high pay and good benefits”.
If an employer claims the job seeker does not meet the entry requirements and demands that they enrol in a training course or other programme at their own expense before being hired, the job seeker should stay alert, as this is very likely a fake recruitment scheme designed to defraud them of money.
Legitimate companies generally will not ask employees to bear any costs.
Watching out for charges and personal data requests
Some fraudsters pose as recruiters and impose unreasonable fees on job seekers under various pretexts and names, such as registration fees, data processing fees, administrative fees and work permit fees.
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, you should consider whether the employer’s request is reasonable and whether there is a risk of excessive collection of personal data.
Interview safety and refusing unreasonable demands
When going to an interview, you must keep your personal safety in mind, avoid going alone to abnormally remote locations for interviews, and should watch out for whether the interview process is excessively casual.
If an employer makes an unreasonable demand, you should firmly refuse, and certainly should not carry out illegal work for the employer.
If you find that the work involves pyramid selling — for example, commission paid at each tier, selling goods at prices higher than in the market, being asked to pay a large membership fee, or being persuaded to recruit members to become downline recruits to earn profits rather than focusing on product sales — you should decline the job.
Fraudsters may also deceive job seekers out of money or obtain their personal data during the interview, and then steal bank savings or use the data for unlawful activities. Alternatively, they may claim to be recruiting for an online part-time job and promise that buying online game top-up cards on behalf of others can earn a service fee or commission; once the job seeker provides the serial number and password, the fraudster sells the top-up cards and loses contact, leading to financial loss.