A headline in the San Francisco Chronicle cautions that perfect job pitch you see on LinkedIn is probably a fake.
LinkedIn has positioned itself as the leading networking site for career minded professionals. Taking your career networking online is a great idea. But the concept of ‘applier beware’ has never been truer on the site, where fake profiles are rampant, international users represent a significant percentage, and intelligence services cull for data.
The San Francisco Chronicle warns a number of fake LinkedIn job postings are luring in tech-savvy and perhaps too trusting millennials. Some are even ponying up personal details such as social security numbers to fake employers who may say they need the information to verify security clearance information.
The motivation for fake job postings and fake profiles is significant – scammers can make money on the data they steal. In some cases, foreign governments are even paying up to $1,000 for the resumes of security cleared professionals with specific skills, a recent briefing by the Defense Security Service (DSS) warned. There are a lot of motivations behind the push to gather as much personal and career data about an individual as possible.
“These attacks have a high rate of success, experts said, in no small part because there is an implicit level of trust around job applications and using a familiar tool, like LinkedIn, to connect with strangers,” the Chronicle’s story notes.
We’ve noted before – you can have a security clearance and still participate on open networking sites such as LinkedIn. But the way you participate matters. The DSS also recently cautioned clearance holders – only connect with individuals you not only know, but would endorse professionally. If the individual or a potential employer contacted you for a recommendation, would you give it? If the answer is no, or you don’t know – deny the request.
Size Doesn’t Matter
One of the most annoying things I find about LinkedIn is when individuals post their number of connections next to their profile. I’ve seen things like “22k+ connections!!!” next to a person’s name. That’s sign number one that I will not be connecting with that person. When it comes to your career network – size doesn’t matter. Quality does. Beware of any job posting you see on a social networking site. In general, it’s always best to verify a job posting on a secure site such as ClearanceJobs (that’s not just shameless promotion – I can tell you we verify our employers and they must be U.S. based, legitimate companies), or on the company’s website.
If you have any doubts, contact the recruiter who posted the position (something you can see on a site like ClearanceJobs) – and don’t trust a social media profile, even if it looks great, unless you know that person personally.
When it comes to personal data such as social security numbers, NEVER post that information on your resume or an online forum. If an employer needs your social security number, you can provide that via phone – but it should not be among the first information you provide. Voice or video chat can be a great way to share career details with employers you’ve vetted and verified – a VOIP phone option is even available to help candidates and employers talk directly through the ClearanceJobs site (which is a great way to verify an employer is legitimate – ask them to voice chat you). Skype is another great, free tool to help you verify you’re talking to the right person.
Finally, don’t take a great job listing at face value. Smart job seekers know a job listing filled with typos or incomplete information is fake. But attacks using LinkedIn are increasingly sophisticated – a job offer may look perfect but still be fake. Don’t trust, verify – by contacting the employer or recruiter directly and corroborating a job listing with one located on the company’s website.
