News


January 13, 2025 -

ACSESS: Protecting Your Company from Recruitment Fraud

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Does your recruiting firm or staffing agency have a strong brand and a good reputation? If so, it could unwittingly become entangled in one of the many recruitment scams that are on the rise across Canada and elsewhere. 

These fraudulent schemes can threaten your company’s reputation, while harming the lives of the job seekers they target. 

How do recruitment scams work?

These scams promote fake job listings designed to trick job seekers into:

  • Paying money for job opportunities, interviews, training, software or other expenses.  
  • Sharing private information like their social insurance number or banking details as part of the application process and long before a job offer is made.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), some scams also use counterfeit cheques or “financial agents” to take their money or private information.

These scammers usually contact job seekers by text, social media or email but they also post fake job listings on legitimate job boards like Indeed or LinkedIn and social media. To appear legitimate, they often impersonate real staffing industry companies and sometimes their actual consultants/employees. 

For more details on how these scams work, the various types of scams and how they can impact businesses like yours, check this in-depth article from Canadian HR Reporter.
 

How to Safeguard your company

While there’s no bulletproof way to avoid these scams, here are some steps to mitigate your risk and make your company a less appealing target:

Broadly inform clients, job seekers and others -

  • Post a prominent notice on your website warning job seekers about these scams and fake recruiters who may impersonate your company and it in your social media channels. (Here’s an example from Korn Ferry.)
  • Outline how your company does and does not contact job seekers, such as use of email, LinkedIn or WhatsApp texts, in the job seekers’ section of your website and in your social media channels.
  • If possible, designate an email address or phone number that job seekers can use to verify a recruiter’s outreach or a job posting. Promote it on your website and in your social media channels.

Monitor for fraudulent use of your company’s brand -

  • Monitor your job listings to identify and quickly address any unauthorized postings, particularly if you notice a spike in visits to your website.
  • Watch out for scammers creating clones of your website. If you discover a cloned site, contact the web or email domain host to request its removal. 

Educate your teams and the job seekers they engage -

  • Educate your team about recruitment scams, what to watch for and what your company is doing to safeguard job seekers and its reputation. 
  • Encourage your team to inform job seekers they engage about these scams and the warning signs. To help you, ACSESS developed this safety tip sheet . We encourage your team to share with job seekers.

What to do if your firm’s name is implicated in a scam

  1. Speak out – Issue a public statement on your website, social media accounts and job board profiles about this scam and your company’s name.
  2. Report the scam to authorities – Contact the CAFC at 1-888-495-8501 and your local authorities to report this scam.
  3. Document and consult legal counsel – Document and keep records on this scam and any resulting financial/other losses your company has suffered. Law enforcement officers may need these records. Legal counsel may also suggest other actions, such as a cease-and-desist communications. 

ACSESS is working with its alliances to monitor this issue and share strategies to reduce the risks to recruiters, staffing firms and job seekers. We will provide further updates, as appropriate.

 

Sources: Canadian HR Reporter, Recruitment scams: common types, how to spot them, and their impact on business, Dec. 17, 2024. Inc.com, Scam Recruiters Are Hiring for Your Company. Here’s How to Fight Back. January 2025.