Disrupting modern-day slavery
IN recent years, there has been a notable surge in online scamming activities worldwide. Unscrupulous individuals and groups will use any channel to exploit unsuspecting people, including social media, messaging apps and job boards. These scams range from cryptocurrency fraud and romance scams to fraudulent job offers. There have even been cases where these scams have resulted in human trafficking situations.
To effectively combat these emerging forms of modern slavery, it is imperative to raise awareness about these malicious actors and disrupt their scamming operations whenever possible. By taking these proactive measures, we can safeguard jobseekers and create a safer employment market.
Conduct constant checks
Implementing thorough onboarding checks is a key strategy to proactively prevent unscrupulous individuals from engaging with jobseekers on your platform.
It is essential to establish dedicated teams tasked with verifying the legitimacy of job advertisements and conducting background checks on companies that directly post advertisements on your platform.
To ensure the safety and trustworthiness of employers accessing jobseekers’ profiles on your platform, verify their accounts thoroughly by a human operator. This entails collecting and reviewing legal documentation provided by the employers as evidence of their legitimacy. Additionally, reputation checks should be carried out to further evaluate the credibility of the employers.
As a case in point, my company rejected about 2.5% of employers across Asia-Pacific (Apac) in the second half of 2022 because we were unable to verify their legitimacy or they were deemed too risky for our platform.
It is crucial to implement systems that can identify and flag job advertisements containing blacklisted terms or phrases, such as advertisements that contain discriminatory keywords or request payment from jobseekers.
Between July and December 2022, we conducted automatic scans of all 3.7 million job advertisements on our platform across Apac. As a result, our team manually reviewed 10% of those advertisements, educating employers on why their ads were flagged or promptly blocked because they raised concerns or appeared questionable.
“The battle against employment scams is an ongoing one as long as it remains profitable for unscrupulous individuals. However, if we work together by raising awareness and taking proactive measures, we can render these forms of exploitation economically unviable for scammers.
Responding to new challenges
Over the last year, there has been increasing awareness of “pig butchering” scams, a form of long-term fraud where perpetrators establish relationships with victims and then manipulate them into participating in fraudulent investments.
When syndicates face a shortage of willing scammers, they resort to tactics similar to modern-day slavery. Their modus operandi is recruiting people through social media and messaging apps, coercing them into carrying out scams and internet fraud against their will.
However, we were alerted to a potential case on our platform last year. We took immediate action, filing police reports and implementing substantial new policies to address the issue proactively.
We blocked overseas job advertisements from countries that were deemed as high risk for human trafficking. This decision was reached swiftly, as we recognised that safeguarding the safety of jobseekers on our platform outweighed any potential revenue considerations.
In response to the ever-evolving tactics of perpetrators, it is crucial to invest in and expand the utilisation of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning technologies to enhance fraud detection and prevention capabilities.
Through the use of AI, we have witnessed promising results in terms of improved detection rates and a more streamlined process compared to traditional manual methods.
In addition to leveraging technology to proactively address scams, it is crucial to maintain continuous monitoring of emerging trends related to deceptive recruitment. By staying vigilant and staying abreast of evolving scam
techniques, we can swiftly take necessary measures to protect and safeguard our jobseeker community.
Driving awareness for safe job hunting
Despite the implementation of various measures, it is still possible for some unscrupulous individuals to evade detection, especially if the red flags only appear after the recruitment process has been taken outside the platform.
For example, some advertisements and employers appear to be legitimate but only reveal questionable intent during the candidate interview stage. In such cases, it becomes crucial for jobseekers to report any evidence of suspicious behaviour or questionable employers.
There are several indicators that may suggest a scam, and jobseekers should remain cautious of these red flags. Some common signs include vague or inconsistent job requirements, requests for payment from jobseekers for onboarding or training, unrealistically high salary offers and companies with limited or no online presence.
When considering overseas job opportunities, it is crucial for jobseekers to be aware that it is illegal to travel to a foreign country under a visitor’s visa with the intention of working. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that they have the
appropriate work permit before making any travel arrangements. It is advisable to cross-reference the job details with the original job advertisements and verify the legitimacy of the company through local embassies or relevant authorities.
Making job scams unprofitable
The battle against employment scams is an ongoing one as long as it remains profitable for unscrupulous individuals. However, if we work together by raising awareness and taking proactive measures, we can render these forms of exploitation economically unviable for scammers.
By implementing these measures and creating greater awareness among jobseekers, we can disrupt the operations of scammers, limiting their reach and reducing their potential profits.
With a collective effort, your platform can be a safe space for jobseekers to discover employment opportunities, knowing that their safety and well-being are prioritised.