Have you ever received any messages of job offers with unbelievable earnings? If yes, then your data might be leaked to the cybercriminals. According to Kaspersky, the hybrid working environment due to the pandemic has made the job scams become worsen.

However, there are a few tips from Kaspersky to help job-hunters out there to avoid themselves in becoming the victim of this kind of scam. Let’s check out how to avoid it!

10 Tips To Avoid From Becoming A Victim Of Job Scams

Kaspersky offers the following tips to job-hunters to avoid them from becoming a victim of job scams:

1. Limit job searches to official sources.
2. Do not respond nor click on links if they come from people or organizations you don’t know. Replying simply confirms to the sender that your phone number is active. 
3. Install a trusted security solution with fraud and phishing protection and follow its recommendations. This will solve most of the problems automatically and alert you if necessary. Remember, personal vigilance is not enough when dealing with sophisticated scam methods used by cybercriminals. 
4. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). A common variant is a two-factor authentication (2FA) which often uses a text message verification code while a stronger variant includes using a dedicated app for verification (like Google Authenticator).
5. Check the company’s official website for open vacancies matching your job skills. 
6. Check contact information on companies’ official websites. If needed, send an email to the company to verify if the person who contacted you actually works there. 
7. Be wary of offers to discuss a job or hold an interview in secret chats where messages are encrypted, cannot be forwarded and which alerts the participants if anyone takes a screenshot.
8. Make an additional phone call to the company to ensure that the job offer is legitimate. 
9. Review your job offer for possible mistakes: carefully check the company name or job title and responsibilities. 
10. Report all SMS phishing attempts to designated authorities.

Then what to do if you have become a victim of this scam? You can follow these important steps to limit the damages:

1. Report to any institutions that could assist.
2. Change all passwords and account PINs where possible.
3. Monitor finances, credit and other online accounts for strange login locations and other activities. 

For more information, kindly visit www.kaspersky.com.