In this interview, host Speaker A and internet security expert Robert Siciliano discuss the surge of online job scams that exploit the massive layoffs caused by the recession. Siciliano explains how cybercriminals embed fraudulent ads for positions like shipping managers or international sales reps, turning unwitting applicants into cyber‑mules who ship stolen goods or launder money. He outlines the classic red flags: any job that requires an upfront payment (e.g., a $95 background‑check fee), requests for a Social Security number over the phone, or promises of high earnings for minimal work from home. Siciliano also describes how scammers pose as headhunters or HR managers to gain trust and then extract personal data or funds. The conversation ends with practical advice for job seekers to avoid these traps, emphasizing vigilance and skepticism toward offers that sound too good to be true.
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Up next on the show, more than half a million Americans lost their jobs in November alone, and a lot of people are looking for jobs using the internet, as we're just discussing. But be warned, there are crooks out there using the web as well to lure the recently unemployed only to rip them off. We want to tell you how to find a job without losing your shirt. That's next. Scam alert and beware! New internet scams taking advantage of this recession. During the recession by targeting the newly unemployed. Some scammers asking people to pay up front to work, and then there are the classic work-at-home jobs. Well, they all sound too good to be true. With more than 500,000 jobs cut in the month of November, many people are falling prey to these tricks. So what can you do to avoid these online traps? Robert Siciliano, an internet security expert and the CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, is my next guest. All right, you're the perfect guy for this. Good to see you today, Robert. Now, I understand that— Nice to see you. You were just telling our producers one of these cyber scams is happening through cyber ads. Give us this anecdotal situation.
Well, McAfee came out with a report today that with this global recession, you have international cybercriminals are actually placing ads in, you know, legitimate online job postings for shipping managers, for international sales reps, where the shipping manager, who's really a cyber mule, will receive product that has been purchased with fraudulent credit cards. They thereby ship that product overseas to the cybercriminals themselves. They're also cashing checks for those cybercriminals, laundering that money for them, taking a very small percentage in some cases, and then sending that off to the cybercriminal somewhere in the world.
And then those are the guys getting caught, right? So this is why you need to be careful. So the number one rule that you have for people is if you have to pay to get a job, then you know there's some funny business there?
Absolutely. Anytime there is a job posting and they ask you to plunk down $95 for a background check, they're asking you to put money up front so that they can get you a job or to do a background check, you have to know that there's a scam right there.
Alright, so you avoid those upfront fees. This is a big one, and a lot of people have heard this before, but don't give out your Social Security number over the phone ever.
Absolutely. You know, you'll see a posting and they'll ask for basic personal information, and somewhere along the way they'll weave in getting that Social Security number from you. Once they get that, they open up numerous financial accounts under your name and they own you.
What about all those ads out there that say, "Hey, you can work at home for only 3 hours a week and you end up making more money than anyone else who works 40 hours a week." Like Mom said, if it's too good to be true, it is.
And anytime you see work at home scam, know— anytime you see work at home, know that is a scam. There's no doubt about it.
And you say that sometimes they pose as headhunters or even human resource managers.
Sure. And the whole goal here is to gain your trust. And once they gain your trust, whether as a headhunter, a human resource manager, or other, they're designed to extract funds from you, whether you are giving them credit card information, writing a check, giving them personal personal identifying information like a Social Security number. It's designed to extract money or information out of you. Once they gain your trust, generally the desperate job seeker will give out that information and get scammed.
Yeah, and unfortunately there are a lot of desperate people out there right now. Good thing that they are listening to your tips, Robert Siciliano. Thanks very much. Thank you.
