Listened to yet another story of a guy scammed into a job offer in an int'l organisation. Quit his usual job only to discover the 'new' position doesn't exist. Job scams are real & anyone can be a victim especially with rising desperation for jobs. These few tips might help:

A place to start is acknowledging that as the global economy weakens with people losing jobs each month due to declining economic activity, scammers have come to the party to offer what may seem as real or alternative opportunities.

Secondly, no one is too smart for these people. They know their trade and your level of qualifications or experience doesn't matter. Smart and highly experienced people have fallen victim to such scams.

They do it so well and have everything for every career level. For new graduates, scammers have studied how internships, volunteer and graduate programs are designed so they will package something that sounds quite realistic.

Here are a few tips to reduce on the chances of being a victim:

1. Remember this saying: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is".

Because of the current global economic events whereby most establishments are downsizing rather than expanding, you must interrogate all seemingly good offers carefully to ensure they are authentic.

2. Your interrogation includes sharing adverts with friends or consulting someone you know may have knowledge about the organisation in question before you apply. I know there's a temptation of wanting to surprise your friends when hired but you may end up surprising yourself.

3. Most of these opportunities will be advertised on third party websites which rarely confirm their authenticity. When applying, ensure to do it on the actual website of the organisation claiming to have the opportunities. Visit their actual 'careers' website to confirm.

4. This also means you pay attention web addresses. Scammers will duplicate everything else of an org but make a small alteration that takes you to a different website. IT people can say more about this.

Example:
http://www.mwengelogistics.org  is different from http://www.mwenge-logistics.org 

5. Recruitment processes in int'l organisations take quite long. From my experience, it make take 4-6 months or more from the time you applied to the time a job offer can be made. Thus, offers done within a month or less already raise red flags unless it is being fast tracked.

6. When offers come, the letters look authentic and will have the logos of the purported organisation and nicely signed. Do this: Google the name of the person who signed the letter or any name appearing on the letter. You will learn quickly who they're and this can help.

7. Scammers are always looking for money. So somewhere down the line they'll ask for money. It doesn't matter how small it may sound to you. As they're doing this at global level, even a US$100 is a lot if they receive it from 5000 unsuspecting job seekers. Don't be deceived

The money will be asked for things like processing your visa or arranging for your accommodation in New York before you arrive. It's all lies! Int'l organisations will rarely ask you for money. In most cases, they will arrange some of these things at their cost

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