The UAE’s Ministry of Interior has warned companies and jobseekers against the rise of fake jobs. Fake jobs are a sophisticated and rapidly growing threat to employment all over the world, and the trend has skyrocketed in the UAE in recent years.

A fake jobs or fraudulent employment advertising scam involves a person claiming the identity of a legitimate company to lure candidates with the promise of a job and trick them into transferring money. Employment scams are becoming increasingly prevalent, with airline Emirates falling victim to a fake jobs scam in May this year evidencing that no company is immune to the threat of fraudulent employment advertising.

Fake jobs rob jobseekers of their money and risk identity theft by copying personal documentation, but a scam can also have significant impact upon the business it chooses to pose as. Fraudulently advertising as a company can cause permanent brand damage and result in sudden and sustained drops in staffing levels due to fewer candidate applications for real jobs.

 

Here’s how business leaders can protect their company and candidates from fake job scams:

  • Social Media Best Practice

Ask candidates to apply for jobs via your website rather than LinkedIn. Social media channels can be a very effective method of increasing brand awareness and attracting skilled talent, but jobseekers who apply directly through LinkedIn can fall foul of fake LinkedIn profiles offering non-existent jobs. Use social channels to advertise jobs and direct applications to a dedicated area on your company website, which will instill confidence in candidates at all levels of seniority and will make it harder for scammers to use your brand for fake jobs.

  • Clear Communication

Be specific on your website about what candidates should and should not expect from your business through the hiring process. Use your dedicated job application page to explain your company values and the treatment candidates should expect from any legitimate contact with your company.

  • Transparent Processes

Review your recruitment process to ensure best practice recruitment across your business and all suppliers who recruit on your behalf. Recruiters and hiring managers should use business rather than personal email addresses to communicate with clients (providing reassurance of legitimacy) and should never ask candidates for payment or documentation up front.

  • Ethical Recruitment

Partner with an ethical recruitment company. Ethical recruitment practices are especially paramount for UAE businesses importing high volumes of migrant and expat workers, who may be unfamiliar with the recruitment process and more vulnerable to fake jobs. VHR are committed to ethical sourcing and on-boarding methods, and we work within the countries we recruit from, to personally assess candidate skills and provide the positive recruitment experiences that create happy, productive and well-performing workforces.

 

Find out more about how technology is changing recruitment, or read about how recruiters should treat candidates.