WhatsApp Job Scams

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WhatsApp Job Scams

Have you recently received a WhatsApp message from a recruiter who seems suspicious?

We want to alert our candidates to a current scam that preys on job seekers. Some scammers might contact you with enticing job offers to extract your personal information or ask for payment. This scam is currently widespread and affecting thousands of recruiters in the UK.

Please remember - our team would never reach out to you using WhatsApp. They would only conduct themselves in a professional manner and and we would never ask you for money or bank details, we provide our work finding services free of charge to you as a candidate will never make any suspicious requests. We would like to thank those who have forwarded us the evidence of this scam. We would also encourage you to report any suspicious scams to the Action Fraud here.

Here are some tips to help you spot a fraudulent message:

• It's a message that you weren't expecting
• It comes from a number or email address you don't recognise
• It contains a link - please avoid clicking it
• The job offer seems to good to be true
• They are asking for money or personal details, such as your CV
• The message is poorly written and contains spelling errors

We apologise for the inconvenience, be assured that we report every issue but unfortunately as these are cyber scams, we are unable to stop this widespread issue affecting the whole recruitment industry.

Warning signs when being contacted

There has recently been a significant rise in jobs scams, with fraudsters often impersonating recruitment companies or consultants.

Whilst job scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the best way to help prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a job scam is to educate yourself on things to look out for during your job search. We have set out warning signs to help you spot a potential job scam.

Below is a list of warning signs that could indicate you have been contacted by scammer posing as a recruitment consultant:

A purported HRGO recruitment consultant requesting you to: 

• Provide personal financial details.
• Pay money for an “administration fee”, “security fee” or an “accreditation fee”. HRGO recruitment will never ask you to pay any type of fee, transfer cash or provide credit card information.
• Click unsolicited links or attachments.

Online contact from a purported recruitment consultant with:

• Communications from social media platforms, such as WhatsApp
• A lack of activity, information, or contact details on their profile.
• A suspicious profile picture.
• Poor spelling or grammar in communications.
• Communications of any sort guaranteeing employment or income.
• The job description is vague or poorly written
• Communications from generic addresses such as Gmail or Hotmail accounts. All email communications will be sent from official HRGO recruitment email addresses, such as consultant.name@hrgo.co.uk