Job Scams in South Africa: How to Recognise and Avoid Them

Although the internet has provided a range of opportunities to job seekers in South Africa, it has also become the favorite playground for scammers in recent years. These fraudsters run their scams by misusing the established reputation of trusted brands to fool job seekers. Many unsuspecting people fall victim to employment scams, which have been consistently on the rise.

In this article, we will explore some common job scams in South Africa and the things you can do to avoid falling into these traps.

Common Job Scams in South Africa 

Pay to work scam 

In pay-to-work scams, fraudsters pose as legitimate employers to fool the job seekers. The scammers ask the job applicants for a fee without actually providing them any work. These scammers often ask the applicants to come for an interview in a physical location (a temporarily leased office), after which they ask for some kind of a fee. This reasoning for this fee can be many, like recruiting fees or fees for uniforms, manuals, courses, and work equipment. When the candidates come back from the interview hoping for a callback, they never receive any communication. It is important for job seekers to know that South African law dictates that no employer can ask for any fee from its employees.

SMS job scams

SMS job scams are also quite common in South Africa. In this type of employment scam, the fraudsters send messages to job seekers asking them to send an SMS containing a phrase to a specific number. For instance, they can ask you to send the phrase ‘JOB’ to an X number to know more about the interview process and the job. Once a job seeker sends that SMS, they will then be billed a high amount from their phone carrier for the message.

Work from Home Scams

More and more people are looking for flexible working conditions and good work-from-home jobs these days. However, the nature of these jobs has made it easier for scammers to find their targets. Some warning signs that tell if a work from home opening is not to be trusted are –

· You have not interviewed or spoken to any real person.

· They are asking for credit card information or some kind of fees up front.

· There is not much information available about the company.

Falling victim to such a scam can be disastrous as it can also lead to identity theft, besides other things. It is important to watch out for these warning signs and cease all contact if you suspect something is wrong.

Besides these types of employment scams, there are also fake email job offers, job placement scams, fake websites, postal service scams, and many more.

How to protect yourself from these scams?

If you follow your instincts, you will be able to protect yourself from these types of job scams. If you feel that something is suspicious, it most likely is. Here are some tips for protecting yourself from job scams –

1. If you have received a job offer for a role you have never applied for, and a company you have never interviewed for, it is most likely a scam.

2. If the company asks you for advance payments while applying for a job, you should never send them any money or give out your credit card details.

3. Check the documents provided by the company and see if they look legitimate enough.

4. If you are unsure about a company, run a Google search to find if there are any people complaining about it running a job scam.

5. Check to see which kind of email provider they are using. Most legitimate companies do not use free email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.

Conclusion

With this, we have covered everything there is to know about job scams in South Africa. When you are applying for any job, it is important to always exercise caution. You should also do your own research about the company and the role you are applying for.