[AVOID] How to avoid Email Recruitment Scams [TIPS]

I still remember the day I created my first email address. It was a fad, then, to have an email address and a person not having one was, well, considered an outcast in a subliminal sense.

Over the past many years since opening my first email address and then many from various providers and giving it out, I've become infuriated with the amount of SPAM I receive daily most of which are people wanting to donate money to me, Banks giving me my lost relative's inheritance, winning various lotto/lotteries or sweepstakes many times over to simple recruitment scams.

Had I accepted the lotto/lotteries or sweepstakes, by now I would be the richest person on earth.

Today, I'm going to talk about email recruitment scams and the things to look out for and avoid them when you see these red flags.

Most of the times your email provider will filter them out and stop them from reaching your inbox altogether, but in the event that it does reach your inbox you should check once, if necessary, (unless you have hordes of them in your inbox) and delete them without remorse.

RED FLAG TIP # 1:

Always check from where the email came from (check out the email sender).

I have highlighted the places in red where the emails are not even generated from the company address. Do not, and I repeat, do not reply to these types of email address and they will get your information and would put it to bad use.

To see the actual email address press the small drop-down arrow box circled in green in the image above.


RED FLAG TIP # 2:

Secondly, recruitment companies will never ever ask you to pay their accountant any personal money for recruitment. Many of the MNCs that are doing recruitment never ever ask for money at all.

I have highlighted in red where they ask for money upfront for recruiting you as an employee in their concern as a "refundable" security deposit.

Believe me, it is only for their security that they are asking the money to be paid and that too to their accountant. Rest assured, when you go there or even phone them about this the company shall deny all this and tell you flat out that they are not indulging in these types of things.

Also, note that the email address and phone number of the recruiting officer are not provided. Even if they are provided, always check and verify the information in TIP # 1, the originating and reply-to email address.

In the above screenshot, the email of the recruiting officer or the reply-to email address should end with an "@amec.com" address, but for fooling you and making you think that this is a legitimate email address that has originated from the company, they have provided the full details. This is a big NO, NO and a big RED FLAG as to the reply-to address being of another company other than the original company's own email address.

Hope these Tips have helped you in gauging how to check your emails and see how these online fraudsters gone at great lengths to trick you into paying them money by various means.

Do not fall prey to these methods and save yourself from losing yours or your family's hard-earned money by just giving it to an unknown person or group who tell that they will get you employed or are calling you for interviews at a long off place.

Best of luck for a prospective and bright future!

Image Source: FreePik


[ABOUT: Devesh Prabhu is an avid blogger and has been blogging posts and rants on many subjects through his various blogs. He has been associated with the blogosphere for the past 8/9 years and inadvertently left the blogging scene albeit to concentrate on his personal life, but his desire to be among his readers brought him back.]

[NOTE: The article "[AVOID] How to avoid Email Recruitment Scams [TIPS]" first appeared on the "All About Profession Blog."

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Looking to join a Course / Job Guarantee Program - BEWARE or BE AWARE

Thumb Rule # 1: DON'T BELIEVE IN ANYONE WHO ASKS YOU TO PAY MONEY FOR OFFERING A JOB. 

Companies don't need to take any money from you PERIOD. They might tell you hundreds of stories like they are taking money as a 'Security Deposit' or for 'Infrastructure or Development' purposes. Don't trust them. If they don't have enough money for their 'Infrastructure or Development,' they don't deserve to run their company!!! Instead, trust a company which doesn't ask a penny from you even if it is a start-up company. You can work for FREE (or for a very less salary) if you want to get some work experience. That is Okay, but never pay money from your pocket for any reason. In worst-case scenarios, if you are paying money, don't forget to take a signed paper (On their Company Notepad with the signature from an official) or a valid bank receipt from them in which it's clearly written that you have paid the money as a refundable security deposit and it should also have the Terms & Conditions. 

Thumb Rule # 2: DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY 'JOB GUARANTEE' PROGRAMS FROM TRAINING INSTITUTES. 99.0 % OF THEM DON'T KEEP THEIR PROMISES.

It has become a trend that many companies/institutes asking jobless people to pay 50,000 (or more) and they will pay you back 2,000 per month. Just think logically how foolish this actually sounds. For 1 year, they will be paying you (2000 x 12=) 24,000. So, you are essentialy working FREE for them for more than 2 years. In other words, they will be giving you a part of the amount that you have paid to them initially. And they will be enjoying the interest on your money. These institutes promise you a lot of things when you go for counseling. They will show their past record of placing people in MNC companies and they will tell you the list of companies that come there for the placement. Don't get deceived by them. All those promises will go in vain the moment you pay the money. In the worst-case scenario, if you must join, then enquire with the students who are studying there and who already studied there. (You can know any regrets from those who are currently studying there and you will know the pros and cons from the people who already studied there. Try to get feedback from those who achieved the job and those who couldn't get the job after the completion of the course.) Unveiling the Secret :- From earlier experiences, It is known that, typically some good training institutes could place those candidates who meet with the company's eligibility criteria such as the engineering branch/stream you have done and the percentage criteria through out the candidate's career. These institutes will lure freshers showing the past records and allows everybody to join the course initially but they keep mum on this issue until you demand the reason why they couldn't place YOU. Remember, even the good institutes are running on a profit basis and NOT on a service basis! It's always good to get trained in some of the latest technologies and it improves your chance of getting a job. But don't join any institute based on their promise of giving you a job. When you want to join an institute, remember to enquire with the student who have taken courses and observe their infrastructure, lab availability timings, and their faculties. Some institutes train you using their previous batch students as faculties/trainers. Be careful!!! Preferably, join a branded institute as they maintain quality of education to some level. But generally they are expensive to afford as they try to maintain their quality. Remember, no institute is at your service! Everything is a business. You cannot change that, but you need to be careful.

Thumb Rule # 3: KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE' AND 'PLACEMENT GUARANTEE'.

There is a subtle difference between 'Placement Assistance' and 'Placement Guarantee'. The former one means that they will help you to get a job, but no guarantee. If you observe the advertisements carefully, most of them mention '100% Placement Assistance'. Later they can always escape saying that they never guaranteed a job. Even if they do, there will be a famous super star saying "* Conditions Apply !" :-). Ask them what those conditions are. When some institute says 'Placement Guarantee', ask them to mention it in written and give it to you. (No body can dare to give you. They cleverly say that how can we assure you a job if you don't learn anything. Or they will ask you not to join the course if you don't have the trust on them and they can even say that, there are hundreds of candidates who are pursuing the course and they will slap a question back to you whether they are all fools to join that institute. What will be your reaction? ) See to it that it's clearly mentioned in that document WHAT IF they can't provide you a job. Also tell them that you will pay the money the next moment they provide you a job (Since they are anyway saying job is guaranteed, ask them what's the problem with this...:-)). Some institutes say that they will recruit you based on your performance in training. This is even more fishy. They can always escape later saying your performance is not up to the mark (Despite of you performing very good) and walk away with your money. Be careful. In the worst case, if you are paying money, see to it that you pay in installments. (At least, it will save you from losing your entire money). If their training is really good, you will anyway pay the remaining money. Otherwise, you can escape with the least damage. Hope you will keep in mind that I've asked you to join an institute mainly to learn the technology and not for their job guarantee scheme. So when you want to learn, join the best! It may even fetch you a job! 

Thumb Rule # 4: DON'T ATTEND THE WRITTEN TESTS/INTERVIEWS THAT ASK YOU TO PAY REGISTRATION FEE. 99.0 % OF THEM ARE FAKE.

An exception is the Government companies. They require some registration fee. That's OK. Remember that good/branded companies never ask you for registration fees. They don't need it. If they are taking money, there is something fishy. Don't pay registration fee unless you are totally convinced. Just walkout if you think something.

Thumb Rule # 5: DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE WHO SAYS THEY CAN GET YOU THROUGH COMPANIES BY 'BACK-DOOR'.

People in the companies are not senseless to recruit candidates in illegal ways and put them and their own company in trouble. Don't believe if someone says he knows the HR or Project Manager of a company and can provide you job through back door. In the best case, one may get a job if the candidate directly knows high level people and he/she meets all the eligibility criteria of the company and the candidate is talented enough to get a job but he/she didn't get an opportunity to prove his/her ability. But remember, there is no bypass to the process of the company. Process is rigid and it is because of the process, a company grows or shrinks! It's better and happy to stay away from such back door offers instead of getting troubled by them. Think!

Thumb Rule # 6: DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE 'ONLINE TYPING JOBS' OR 'SMART JOBS' THAT ASK YOU TO PAY SOME MONEY TO EARN MORE.

If they give it for free, then you may think about it. (But, such jobs are to be discouraged ,because you will lose your will to get into a good job that matches your profile.) Better, simply ignore. Don't pay even a single paisa. They lure you saying you have to pay 500 Rs (or more) initial payment to earn thousands of money every day ! All that is simply trash. You will be wasting your time and you won't earn even a single paisa after paying your/your parents' hard-earned money.

Thumb Rule # 7: THINK TWICE BEFORE PAYING MONEY TO ANY OF THE JOB SITES.

Don't believe in Premier Memberships, Online Tests that require you to pay money. That's just eye wash stuff and will not fetch you any job if you don't have right talent. If you have talent, you will anyway get that job even without the help of those programs. Even if they send your resume to 1,000 companies or 10,000 companies, the companies won't recruit you unless they have vacancies and you are suitable for those positions. If someone says they succeeded through some job program, just think what is the percentage of people succeeded in getting jobs through that program. I don't think it will be more than 1 %. I am not saying all programs are fake ones. But my advice for you is to think twice before you spend your hard-earned money on some job programs. Remember that companies pay money for those job sites if you get selected through them. In such case, there is no need to collect money from you.

Thumb Rule # 8: DON'T SUBMIT/HANDOVER YOUR ORIGINAL EDUCATIONAL CERTIFICATES (OR ANY ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS).

Also, don't submit/handover your original educational certificates (or any original documents) unless it is a very good company and its mandatory for all employees working there. If you are submitting the documents, make sure you get a written proof that they have taken them as per the policy of their organization. (F.Y.I., Good companies never insist their employees to handover originals to them. They generally ask you to bring them during joining period to cross check with the photocopies of the same.)

If you blindly believe somebody's words without following the above guidelines then, you will be in serious trouble later when you want to leave the company. Many freshers have suffered because of this. Hope you don't get into trouble.