Most employees say candidates are partly to blame for job scams: Report

Over 75 per cent of respondents feel that candidates are partly responsible for falling prey to scams due to their failure to verify company's credentials before making payments or sharing sensitive personal information, a report said on Saturday.

A substantial 75 per cent of surveyed employees indicated that many job seekers fail to exercise the necessary caution when engaging with potential frauds posing as employers or recruiters, the report by workforce staffing and HR services provider Genius Consultants said.

The report by Genius Consultants is based on a survey of 1,427 employees across sectors including FMCG, Technology, Manufacturing, Telecom, E-Commerce, Logistics, Real Estate, and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance).

Further, the report revealed that while 28 per cent of respondents believed that there have been serious steps taken by the government or regulatory bodies to curb such frauds, a significant 55 per cent disagreed saying there has been inadequate efforts and a lack of stringent measures.

Over 87 per cent respondents believe that job frauds are largely perpetrated by scammers who exploit the job market for their financial gain, while only 7 per cent pointed to hackers as the primary source of fraud, highlighting the difference between traditional scams and cybercrimes, said the report.

This suggests that job frauds are often more personal and deceitful, relying on manipulative tactics to lure candidates into fraudulent schemes, it added.

Around 70 per cent of the respondents said they have encountered fake job postings that mislead job seekers into applying for non-existent positions, while 26 per cent reported encountering fraudulent recruitment agencies that take advantage of job seekers' trust, 3 per cent have been victims of monetary scams, where fraudsters demanded payments for job placements or asked for sensitive financial information and 1 per cent of respondents reported incidents of identity theft, where scammers use personal information for fraudulent activities, said the report.

When asked which sectors are most vulnerable to job frauds, 43 per cent of respondents pointed to the IT sector as the most susceptible, citing its high demand for talent and reliance on online job portals, it stated.

Other sectors that were identified include retail and e-commerce (29 per cent), finance (22 per cent), and healthcare (4 per cent), added the report.

Meanwhile, the report also found that the rise of online job portals has made recruitment more accessible but has also opened new avenues for fraud, with 65 per cent believing that the growth of online recruitment platforms has directly contributed to the increase in job frauds, while 22 per cent feel the rise of these platforms has somewhat exacerbated the issue.