Scams are pervasive across the internet. While many are familiar with the classic Nigerian prince email scam, scammers have since advanced into complicated schemes to try to extract money from unsuspecting internet users.
In December of last year, a user on TikTok went viral after warning users about scam attempts through Facebook Marketplace. Earlier that month, another user claimed that a scammer tried to convince her that a member of her family had been kidnapped. Around the same time, a further user warned that scammers were impersonating UPS in an attempt to collect information.
Now, it appears scammers have found a new avenue to explore: LinkedIn job posts.
According to TikTok user Lex (@lexaveee), she applied for, and received, a job via LinkedIn. Before she actually started working at the company, however, she discovered that the entire operation was a sham.
“The crazy part is that everything about it seemed so legit,” she says in the video, which currently has over 409 thousand views. “Like, these people are good at what they do.”
@lexaveee back to square 1🫠 #jobs #job #jobinterview #jobsearch #jobhunt #jobhunting #scam #scammers #scams #scamalert #igotscammed #linkedin #fakejobposting #fakejobs ♬ Cumbia Buena – Grupo La Cumbia
In the video, Lex explains that she applied for a job on LinkedIn after discovering a job posting on the site.
The following day, she received an email asking for an interview and instructed her to download an app that the team used for communication.
After downloading the app, Lex contacted the person to set up an interview, at which point they set up a time to meet. When that time came around, Lex discovered that the interview was going to be conducted over text message.
Lex thought this was strange but was not immediately put off by the discovery.
“I thought all interviews were on the phone or face-to-face, but I was like, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never done a remote job before. Maybe this is the new thing they’re starting to do,’” she says. While not common, text message interviews aren’t unheard of, with companies like OpenTable utilizing text message interviews during the screening process for job candidates.
A few days later, Lex was instructed to expect a call from the company’s HR department. The same day, a person calls her and congratulates her, telling her she got the job.
Lex then told her friends the good news. However, one friend decided to look up the position on the company’s website—only to discover that they had made a post warning that there was a scammer impersonating the company.
Lex reached out to the real company, who confirmed that she had been communicating with a scammer.
“I was so let down, because I was so excited about this opportunity,” Lex shares.
In the comments section, users speculated about how exactly the scam worked.
“They make you buy the equipment and ‘pay’ you back on your first paycheck,” wrote a user.
Lex appears to confirm this in response.
“That’s what they were gonna have me do next- buy a new phone for the job & tell them where I’d be working,” she detailed.
This type of scam is commonly referred to as an “advance fee scam.” In short, a scammer offers you an item, service, or, in this case, a job, then tells you that you will need to pay a fee before you can receive it. As the item, service, or job doesn’t actually exist, the scammer will simply keep the fee.
In some cases, the scammer may even give the victim a fraudulent check to “repay” them — only to have the check bounce several days later.
In the comment section of Lex’s video, users noted red flags that one should look out for to avoid such scams in the future.
“As someone who regularly recruits on LinkedIn, if someone asks you to download something to communicate with them, politely decline the opportunity,” stated a commenter.
“Red flag, if you’re asked to download an app, biggest red flag. Do not do it,” added a second. “Next, Google the company, try to find reviews etc.”
Some users expressed concern about the fact that Lex downloaded a brochure from the company.
While a document may appear to be a PDF, it may contain hidden executable files that would allow access to a user’s computer. This can include installing key-loggers to track what a user types, gaining access to the user’s webcam, or even stealing a browser’s session tokens to impersonate the victim’s login accounts on various websites.
Prominent tech YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips recently fell victim to the latter attack, resulting in several YouTube channels under their umbrella sharing links to Elon Musk-themed cryptocurrency scams.
Back on TikTok, users noted just how common this scam is.
“They did it to my nephew,” claimed a user. “He lost $4,000 dollars that were supposedly for computer, printer, and other programs.”
“Happened to me last summer,” shared a second. “I found out it was a scam by the email. They added a ‘s’ in the email.”
“Same thing happened to me,” detailed a third. “it’s so crazy that you can’t even trust job postings anymore.”
Update 4:15pm CT, March 30: In an email to Daily Dot, a LinkedIn spokesperson shared the following: “When you apply for a job, you expect it to be real and trustworthy. We use technology and teams of experts to find and remove unsafe jobs and those that don’t meet our standards. We’ve launched a series of new features including an advanced safety feature that, when enabled, displays a warning on LinkedIn messages with high-risk content, such as a request to move the conversation away from LinkedIn, as this could be a sign of a scam. We also encourage our members to report anything that might violate our Professional Community Policies so we can investigate. You can learn more about the work we do to keep LinkedIn trusted and professional here.”
Update 10:45am CT, Apr. 2: In an email to the Daily Dot, Lex verified several details about the scam.
First, the app Lex was instructed to download was Microsoft Teams, which is used by many organizations to monitor remote work.
The Daily Dot also confirmed that the scammers spoofed an email address from an authentic company and claimed to be a known hiring manager. For context, email addresses can be spoofed to appear as though they’re coming from an authentic source, even when they’re not. As Lex says in her video, this company has now added a note to their job postings page warning of the scam.
“Since then, I have received another email from a scam company that mirrored all of the job details that I have been searching for,” Lex wrote. “That time, I knew it was a scam because it clearly stated in the email to download an app, and I also got a text message from someone asking me if I was interested in the job.”
Lex says she did not report the job posting to LinkedIn. She also warned users how to avoid similar scams.
“I think in the future for any viewers who want to avoid scams, make sure that the job posting is identical to the one on the company’s website. Also, a company normally doesn’t reach out to you first unless you send them your information and resume,” she detailed.
