Identity theft report sees a 2023 surge in job scams

The fake job market is booming.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) recently reported a 118% YoY increase in phony job offers—a scam tactic that takes advantage of today’s hiring methods, which can forego interviews or in-person interaction.

“Pre-pandemic, there were remote jobs, but they were easier to spot as scams,” ITRC President and CEO Eva Velasquez told IT Brew. “[Today] there are more and more well-paying, legitimate, 100% remote jobs that are available.”

Gig deal. So-called gig work, defined by Cornell University and The Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative’s Gig Economy Data Hub as “income-earning activities outside of standard, long-term employer-employee relationships,” has surged in recent years, and some freelancer opportunities don’t call for in-person interviews. (Think rideshare, Velasquez said, which allows applicants to start quickly via online platforms.)

Online gigs for at-home tasks like data entry and image tagging have also expanded—accounting for up to 12% of the global labor force, according to a World Bank report in September 2023.

A University of Chicago study, published in May 2023, analyzed 1099-K tax forms to determine that payouts for platform gig work had more than tripled between 2017 and 2021.

“People have gotten much, much, much more used to providing a lot of information about themselves before they ever meet anyone. And that includes for job postings,” Velasquez said.

Fraud city. The ITRC report, released on June 26, stated that the job/employment scammers primarily worked through websites, typically LinkedIn or job search platforms.

The findings are based on an analysis of incidents and attempts reported to ITRC Victim Advisors, who assisted 10,904 new victims of identity misuse, attempted misuse, or identity compromise last year, citing two cases related to employment fraud:

• One applicant looking for a job online gave up his social security number, driver's license picture, and address before noticing that the “employer” had used suspicious photos.
• Another applicant gave their name, address, and photo ID during a virtual interview.

“Our experience has been that [scammers] will keep asking for more and more data and information about you until you say no,” Velasquez said, adding that attackers try for credit card numbers and even government agency login credentials.

Velaszquez noted two main job scam types:

• Fraudsters post bogus job listings on legitimate platforms.
• Scammers send unsolicited texts, emails, and/or phone calls.

Velaszquez urged hiring companies to prominently share news about any known hiring scams, and to also look for ways to confirm authenticity with applicants.

“If you are advertising for open positions, make it easy to navigate on your website and make the contact information for the legitimate person easy to find and verify,” Velasquez said.

The Labor Department’s June jobs report revealed that the US unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, matching levels from late 2021. When there’s a search for jobs, there’s a potential market for fake ones, meaning the job scam threat is likely to remain, according to Velasquez.

“It’s not going away. It’s not like we’re going to stop being employed.”