How to spot recruitment scams and protect yourself

Scammers will advertise fake jobs or pose as recruitment agencies to obtain your personal and/or financial information.

Fraud alert

Employment fraud happens when a fraudster claims to be a recruitment agent, hiring you for a job copied from our website/job board or even one that doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, these job scams and phishing in the recruitment sector is increasing, and we are aware that scammers are unlawfully using the Ernest Gordon name and logo in an attempt to obtain individuals data.

Top tips to spot a potential job scam

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 our top tips to help you spot a potential job scam.

  • You are asked for money, an “administration fee”, “security fee” or an “accreditation fee”. Ernest Gordon will never ask you to pay any type of fee, transfer cash or provide credit card information.
  • Poor spelling or grammar in communications.
  • The job description is vague or poorly written.
  • Communications are from generic addresses such as Gmail or Hotmail accounts.
  • You are asked for unnecessary personal information before submitting your application.
  • You are asked to click unsolicited links or attachments.
  • You are offered a job offer immediately or without an interview.
  • You are instantly offered a high salary.

Remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

What to do if you suspect a job scam using the Ernest Gordon name or logo

If you are unsure if a Ernest Gordon advertisement or communication is legitimate and/or you have been requested to attend an in person meeting, please call us on 01173 290 100 or email  enquiries@ernestgordon.com who will assist you as far as possible to verify the information you have received.

Ernest Gordon email addresses take the format of name.surname@ernestgordon.com. If you are contacted by someone whose email address varies from this format, please do not respond.

Ernest Gordon does not make job offers to candidates or request candidates to send applications through instant messaging services such as Telegram and Whatsapp. We also will not ask for any banking or payment information on any instant messaging services.

What to do if you think you are the victim of a job scam

  • Take a screen grab or note of the fraudster’s details and report them to Action Fraud (see Resources below)
  • If you have given them any money, contact your bank immediately and let them know.
  • Warn the operators of the website/social media site through which you were contacted and let them know that their site is being used by fraudsters.

Have you received a WhatsApp message from Ernest Gordon?

Please be aware that there is a current WhatsApp scam targeting job seekers. The scammers may contact you with an enticing job offer at the same time trying to extract some personal information or even in some cases ask for payment. We are aware that this is a nationwide scam affecting many recruiters in the UK.

Some tips to help you spot fraudulent messages: 

  • It’s a message you were not expecting. 
  • It comes from a number or email address you don’t recognise.
  • The email is a generic address.
  • It contains a link – do not click this. 
  • They are asking for money or contact details.
  • You are offered the job without an interview. 
  • You are asked to complete tasks or answer questions. 
  • The message includes grammar errors and spelling errors. 

We apologise for the inconvenience; we are unable to stop these crimes however please be assured that we are reporting these. 

What to do:

If someone contacts, you on WhatsApp claiming to be from Ernest Gordon please follow the steps below: 

You can contact Ernest Gordon if you have been targeted by someone pretending to be from the office. See more details here regarding our Privacy Policy.

Resources