New Heimdal Study Reveals Job Scammers' Top Tactics from 2,670 Social Media Posts

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 8 October 2024  - A new report from Heimdal reveals key insights into the growing threat of job scams, based on an analysis of 2,670 social media posts and comments from victims in 2023 and 2024. The report highlights common scam tactics, targeted industries, and key red flags job seekers should be aware of.

These findings provide important insights for job seekers, as well as businesses and platforms working to counter these scams.

Key findings of the study:

• Most targeted industries: The finance and IT sectors are the hardest hit, accounting for 35.45% and 30.43% of scam cases, respectively. The healthcare industry follows at 15.41%.
• Remote work risk: Remote positions are increasingly targeted, with 43% of scam posts mentioning remote jobs, followed closely by on-site (42%) and hybrid roles (15%).
• High-value roles: Managers and entry-level candidates are the primary targets, with 35% of scams focusing on managers and 34% on entry-level roles.
• Contact methods: Email is the top method scammers use, responsible for 30.75% of cases, followed by social media (20.19%) and websites (19.79%).
• Scam characteristics: The most common job scam tactics include suspicious contact information (41.1%), unrealistic salary offers (25.7%), and misleading job descriptions (10.6%).

Red flags for job seekers:

The study identified several red flags commonly associated with job scams, including:

• Upfront payment requests (25.08%)
• Phishing attempts (18.81%)
• Requests for confidential information (17.49%)
• No interview process (15.84%)
• Fake job offers (12.21%)
• Poorly written job descriptions (10.56%)

Emotional impact on victims:

In addition to financial losses, job scams are taking a significant toll on victims' mental health:

• 35.29% of victims reported experiencing distress,
• followed by 23.53% reporting anxiety,
• and 9.41% expressing anger.

"Job scams affect victims' finances, so there’s that initial pain of financial loss. What comes next can be even more devastating because victims feel embarrassed, ashamed, and violated. Getting hit by a job scam can make you question your intelligence and value as a candidate—especially if you’ve faced a lot of rejection through your search," said Albert Kim, VP of Talent at Checkr, a background check company.

“What’s rarely discussed is how these scams can strip away a person’s fundamental belief in fairness and justice. Victims feel that the system, whether it's regulatory bodies or law enforcement, isn't equipped to protect them, leaving them with a lingering sense of injustice.", said Oliver Morrisey, Lawyer at Empower Wills & Estate Lawyers.

“This lack of closure, combined with the emotional fallout, creates long-term psychological scars that can last far beyond the financial damage. For some, it's not just a scam; it feels like their entire professional reputation and personal trust have been shattered”, he added.

Preventive measures for job seekers:

The report highlights several strategies job seekers can use to avoid falling victim to scams, including:

• Checking company reviews (26.96%)
• Verifying company information (22.87%)
• Consulting trusted friends (19.46%)
• Verifying email domains and checking company websites for legitimacy.

"Scammers have become incredibly sophisticated, especially with the rise of generative AI, which allows them to mimic real recruiters almost perfectly. They prey on emotional vulnerabilities, making it harder than ever to differentiate genuine job offers from fake ones. It's clear that job platforms are struggling to keep up with the growing number of scammers.” said Valentin Rusu, Ph.D., Lead Machine Learning Engineer at Heimdal Security.

"That's why job seekers must adopt a cybersecurity-first mindset—approach every email and job offer with caution. Verify email domains, check company websites, read reviews, and consult with trusted friends before proceeding. And most importantly, never disclose personal information unless you're absolutely certain of the company's legitimacy.", Rusu added.

Supporting this perspective, Jessica Munday, Head of HR at Custom Neon, offered practical advice: "Check the corporate website, the contact person's LinkedIn profile, and other online resources to confirm the email address that is on file with the company. Use the contact information on the company's official website to arrange a face-to-face meeting if you are contacted about a position that appears dubious."

"Take a step back if something doesn't feel right or if you're under pressure to decide right away without having had enough time to consider your options. Urgency is a ploy used by scammers to force victims to act before they have a chance to think through their options," she added.

The full analysis is available here: https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/job-scam-social-media-study.

About Heimdal
Established in Copenhagen in 2014, Heimdal® empowers CISOs, security teams, and IT administrators to improve their security operations, reduce alert fatigue, and implement proactive measures through a unified command and control platform.

Heimdal’s award-winning cybersecurity solutions span the entire IT estate, addressing challenges from endpoint to network levels, including vulnerability management, privileged access, Zero Trust implementation, and ransomware prevention.

For more information, visit Heimdal.

For further press information:

Madalina Popovici
Media Relations Manager
mpo@heimdalsecurity.com

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