Job seekers are warned not to fall for scams in which payments are requested once they have been ‘selected’ for a position.
Management of Orion Group and its divisions inform jobseekers of a recent scam, which starts off with an advertised position, using Orion Group’s name alongside a bogus job title and a request for CVs.
Once the applicant submits their CV, the’ recruiter’ contacts that applicant stating that their profile matches the job criteria and they are the selected candidate for the lucrative position. The scammer then sends a payment request to the applicant for a specified amount of money, which in many cases starts off from R400. The payment is for ‘building a professional portfolio for your CV’.
Once the money is paid over, the candidate is left in limbo. The recruiter stops contacting the candidate and the money is gone with no prospects of the job.
Lisa Ackhurst from Orion Group’s human resources division said over the last two months she has received countless calls and emails from applicants who were told they had successfully applied for positions in the company and wanted feedback. “Over the past two months, I have seen an influx of jobseekers querying about jobs they’ve been selected to fulfill at Orion Group. These candidates often state that they’ve paid for their applications, which is when I became suspicious. I have investigated the recruitment agency in question and even though they have a legitimate website, there are no valid contact details for them. The positions are definitely not advertised or offered by us and we do not in any way ask for payments of any sort for our vacancies,” she said.
The unemployment rate leaves many jobseekers desperate, many of whom find themselves easy targets for such scammers who go the extra mile to portray themselves as legitimate recruiters. Lisa added that as far as she knew, no reputable recruiter would request payments from jobseekers. “Jobseekers need to be alert at all times to avoid falling victims to scammers. Personal details, addresses and banking details need to be kept undisclosed until you are sure that the recruiter is legitimate,” she said.
KC Makhubele, president of the Federation of African Professional Staffing Organisations (APSO), an industry body committed to the upliftment and professionalisation of the labour recruitment industry in SA, not all staffing agencies are as legitimate as they may seem.
“While the majority of recruitment agencies have candidates’ best interests at heart, there are those who prey on people who are unfamiliar with the recruitment process and who may be desperate for a job. This places first time job-seekers at risk of being scammed,” he explains.
To help job seekers select a credible recruitment company, Makhubele offers the following six tips:
- Verify that the recruitment agency exists
- Avoid agencies or companies that use free email accounts
- Do not pay any money
- Never share photos or personal information
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
- Familiarise yourself with genuine recruitment agencies within your desired industry
