Job and employment scams

When you are looking for a new job, it’s common to see ads promising ‘easy money’ for little effort. These jobs may be advertised on community noticeboards or on legitimate job sites, but opportunities that appear too good to be true usually are.

Fake job ads

Scammers may post legitimate-looking ads offering the opportunity to work from home and earn significant income. Often, victims are duped into using their own bank accounts to transfer large sums of money overseas for third parties, with the supposed reward being a commission based on a percentage of the transfer.

In fact, they become part of a money-laundering operation for transferring stolen money. Victims’ personal bank account may also be used by criminals to carry out identity theft, including opening bank accounts or lines of credit in their name.

Pyramid schemes

A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members by offering them rewards for recruiting more members, rather than by the sale of services or products. Most pyramid schemes require money to be paid to join, which is then passed up the tiers of the pyramid. The pyramid fails when no more people can be recruited, which means that the people at the bottom of the pyramid will lose any money that they ‘invested’.
Some ‘multi-level marketing’ or ‘network marketing’ schemes may appear legitimate as they have real products to sell, but actually operate as pyramid schemes.

Stay safe from job and employment scams

• Use caution when reviewing employment opportunities. If something seems too good to be true, it’s likely that it is.
• Always verify any potential new employer by checking their website and other online presence (like social media profiles).
• If in doubt about a job ad, get a second opinion from family and friends before communicating with the recruiter.
• If you suspect you might have encountered this type of scam, report the incident to your local police, as well as the recruitment site the job has been advertised through.

If you have been targeted by a scam relating to your Qudos account, visit our webpage Reporting Scams to find out who to contact.