Recently, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum learned about several fake job postings targeting individuals interested in applying for jobs at the Oregon Department of Justice.

These fake job listings are created by scraping legitimate websites, such as LinkedIn, and then substituting false information and embedding links which lead to website(s) that are used to harvest personally identifiable information.

By posing as a legitimate recruitment site, the scammers then collect personally identifiable information from unsuspecting individuals which is then sold.

Please be extra cautious if you receive unsolicited job announcements. To protect yourself from fake job scams, review these tips:

1. Conduct a web search of the hiring company using the company name only. Results that return multiple websites for the same company (abccompany.com and abccompanyllc.com) may indicate fraudulent job listings.
2. Legitimate companies will ask for personally identifiable information and bank account information for payroll purposes AFTER hiring employees. This information is safer to give in-person. If in-person contact is not possible, a video call with the potential employer can confirm identity, especially if the company has a directory against which to compare employee photos.
3. Never send money to someone you meet online, especially by wire transfer.
4. Never provide credit card information to an employer.
5. Never provide bank account information to employers without verifying their identity.
6. Do not accept any job offers that ask you to use your own bank account to transfer their money. A legitimate company will not ask you to do this.
7. Never share your Social Security number or other personal identifiable information that can be used to access your accounts with someone who does not need to know this information.
8. Before entering personal identifiable information online, make sure the website is secure by looking at the address bar. The address should begin with https://, not http://.

For more information on how to avoid phishing scams, review the tips in this handy one pager, https://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/DOJ-Do_Not_Click-Flyer.pdf

And, if you have been a victim of a fake job listing, please file a complaint online at www.oregonconsumer.gov or call the Oregon Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9393.