Protect yourself from job posting scams
There are many fraudulent employment scams that target university students across North America.
Although the UBC Career Centre screens all job postings to filter out questionable employers or jobs, it is important for students to be aware of warning signs of job posting scams and take appropriate action to protect themselves and their privacy.
Familiarize yourself with how to avoid job posting scams before you engage with any job opportunity. Learn more cyber-attacks and phishing attempts to help you protect your personal information.
Recognize the warning signs
Whether on CareersOnline or other platforms, it’s important to know what to look for.
Check for the following red flags before applying to any job:
- Unrealistically high pay for minimal effort, entry-level roles, or part-time work.
- Guaranteed employment or immediate job offers without an interview or application process.
- The job posting and communications contain numerous spelling or grammatical errors, or an informal tone.
- The company uses a free email domain like Gmail or Hotmail, instead of an official company domain.
- The employer insists on communicating primarily through messaging apps like WhatsApp. Legitimate companies use professional channels like email and apps like Zoom.
- You cannot find a legitimate company website, a strong online presence, or verify the hiring manager’s identity on the company website, LinkedIn, or Google.
- The employer asks you to buy gift cards from companies like Best Buy, Amazon, iTunes, etc. and then requests the card numbers.
- The company asks you to:
- Provide personal information, such as your SIN, date of birth, driver’s license, or photo identification before a formal offer has been made and accepted.
- Access your bank account and/or credit card information.
- Receive money, transfer money, cash cheques, buy or sell cryptocurrency.
- Be responsible for any financial transactions with your own funds.
Be sure to research all job postings carefully. Verify that the job exists and visit the company’s official website. You can even call the company to confirm.
Know your employment rights
Read the following sources to learn more about your employment rights:
Report job scams
If you suspect a job posting on CareersOnline is fraudulent, please stop all communication with the employer and contact recruit.talent@ubc.ca immediately. We will work with you to identify an appropriate course of action.
You can report a crime in the ways below:
- Contact UBC RCMP.
- Report fraud to your financial institution directly.