Over the past couple months, I’ve been applying for jobs on several sites, including company sites, Indeed, and LinkedIn, where I spend the majority of my time. Unfortunately, some of the postings that I applied for ended up being scams, being convincing to various degrees.
One type of scam in particular that I’ve seen around LinkedIn has you participate in an online ‘interview’, but instead of a phone call or Zoom interview, you get a Word doc with the name of the company and several questions to fill out. This scam began to spread around mid-2020, but has really picked up a lot in mid-2022, and I was the target of one of these scams.
How It Begins
After you send your application to a job posting, after a short amount of time, you will receive an email informing that you have been selected from the pool of applicants for an interview, and to send an email to another address to confirm your availability.
There are two versions of the introductory email I’ve seen in the wild:
Dear {NAME}
{COMPANY NAME} received your resume in respect of our AD for the position of a {JOB TITLE}. Happy to inform you that you’re among the applicants selected for an online interview.
The interview is scheduled for Tomorrow {DATE} from 9AM to 5PM EST. You’re to contact the Corporate Recruiter {RECRUITER NAME}. On Email at (ADDRESS) to confirm and acknowledge the receipt of this email and to schedule your interview and confirm your availability for the interview. You are to be available on Email ASAP for the interview, Your swift and timely response to this position matters a lot as the job interview starts ASAP, If you have any questions or you won’t be available at the interview ASAP
Thank You
HR TEAM
Hello {NAME},
We got your application on LinkedIn for the open position at {COMPANY NAME}. After carefully reviewing all received applications, we consider your background and qualifications impressive. Therefore, we decided to select you for the next round of the screening process. Consequently, we invite you for a virtual screening test/interview with one of the Senior Recruiters from our recruiting consultants, {RECRUITER COMPANY}. The screening test/interview will take place on {DATE}, starting at {TIME}.
Please contact the Senior Recruiter, {RECRUITER NAME} immediately at his email (ADDRESS) to acknowledge the receipt of this email and confirm your availability for the interview. The purpose of this interview is for us to learn more about you while also allowing you to ask any questions you may have. We also want to ensure that your skills, goals, and ambitions align with our open position and culture.
You must send the Senior Recruiter an introductory email confirming or rescheduling your availability to continue the screening process. Again, the Senior Recruiter’s email address is {ADDRESS}.
Thank you and kind regards.
Talent Acquisition Team
{COMPANY NAME}
Version 2 of the introductory email has been rewritten to look more professional and in-detail, fixing many of the errors and suspicious writing of Version 1 of the email.
Red Flags: When a real company approaches you for an interview, usually the recruiter will directly email or ask you for your availability, it wouldn’t make much sense for them to send a generic email telling you to then email someone else – it doesn’t add up.
The 'Interview'
If you send an email to the address listed in the introductory email, the ‘recruiter’ will send you a response email, telling you that they will be sending you some interview questions, and to send your name, phone number and location to continue with the process.
There are 2 versions of this email I’ve seen in the wild.
Hello {NAME}
Thank you again for your interest in employment at {COMPANY NAME}. We are recruiting via online potential employees who would eventually have an office space at home.
{SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY}
We have carefully considered your application during the initial screening and will now proceed to administer a Screening test/Interview for you. In order for us to move ahead with the selection process, please reply this email to confirm your details as follows:
Name :
Phone Number :
Location:
I will email you the Screening Test/Interview Questions as soon I receive your email with the above details.
Thank you
Hello,
I’m {RECRUITER NAME}, Senior Recruiter at {COMPANY NAME}. We appreciate your interest in employment at {COMPANY NAME}. We are recruiting potential remote employees who would eventually have office space at home.
{SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY}
We have carefully considered your application during the initial screening and will now administer the test/interview.
For us to proceed, please reply to this email to confirm your details as follows:
Name:
Location:
Phone number:
Position Applied:
I will email you the test/interview questions when I receive your email with the details mentioned above.
Thank you
Notice how the specific nature and format of the interview is intentionally kept vague in this email, and how both claim that they are recruiting employees who would ‘eventually have office space at home’, regardless if the job posting was advertised as fully remote.
After you send them your name and other details, the ‘recruiter’ will send you a worksheet with several questions for you to answer. These questions are surprisingly detailed and relevant and I’ve seen versions of this document ranging from 12 to 34 questions.
Examples of interview question sheets:
Thank you for your information.
Please find attached the Screening test/Interview Questions for the Screening/Interview process. Keep in mind that there are no ‘right answers’. The Screening test/Interview Questions are designed to gauge your skills and give us an idea of how you approach tasks relevant to the {JOB TITLE} role. Answer any of those questions the way you can, You are required to email back your answers to me within the next 90 minutes.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Best of luck with the test,
Thank you for confirming your details. I have attached the test questions. Keep in mind that there are no ‘right answers”.
We designed the test questions to gauge your skills and give us an idea of how you approach tasks relevant to your role.
Please email back your answers within the next 180 minutes.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Best of luck with the test,
If you fill out the worksheet and answer the questions, and send it back to them, they will reply saying they acknowledge the receipt of your answers and to wait while the hiring board makes a decision. Every version of this scam I’ve seen always ends with the recruiter making an ‘offer’.
Hello {NAME}
Thank you for completing the Screening test/Interview Questions. I acknowledge the receipt of your answers. Our team will review your answers and forward the same to the Hiring Board for their decision and I will get back to you with feedback from the Board’s decision in about 30 minute.
This is going to be strictly an online remote (work from home) job and the working hours are flexible which means you can choose to work from anytime of your choice. Furthermore you will be undergoing training before you start working fully if you are hired at the end of this process. The pay is $60 per hour and training is $30 per hour and will be getting payment weekly via check or direct deposit, depending on which you prefer.
Stand by while I forward your interview answers to the hiring board.
I acknowledge the receipt of your answers.
Our team will review your answers and forward the same to the Hiring Board for their decision and I will get back to you with feedback from the Board’s decision within 3 hours, Kindly continue to check your email within this time for response. You will be having a virtual meeting with a representative from the HR department immediately you complete your proper documentation as our newly recruited employee to discuss further on your job offer and attend to your questions. This is going to be strictly an online remote (work from home) job and the working hours are flexible which means you can choose to work from anytime of your choice. This is a full time job with 40 hours guaranteed.
Furthermore you will be undergoing training before you start working fully which will be between 5-7 days if you are hired at the end of this process.
How much do you want to be considered for this job hourly ?
Let me know when you received this email and reply back with desired pay rate.
Thank you for completing the Screening Questions. I acknowledge the receipt of your answers. Our team is reviewing your answers and forwarding them to the hiring board for their decision, and I will get back to you with feedback on the board’s decision in a few hours.
Please stand by while I wait for the decision of the hiring board.
The 'Offer'
After a short bit of time, the ‘recruiter’ will send you a congratulatory email telling you that you passed the interview process, and depending on the version, will either tell you that you’ve been hired outright or that you’ll be moving to the next step of the recruiting process. Despite this, I have a feeling all these emails come from the same scam ring, as the emails follow the same structure and points, begin with ‘I congratulate you on your achievement’, and feature pretty much the same sentences but subtly rewritten throught for unknown reasons.
Dear {NAME}
It was a pleasure to interview you for the position of {JOB TITLE} in our Company. I am pleased to inform you that due to your level of experience and your working skills, the company has decided to hire you as one of our {JOB TITLE}.
On the behalf of our firm, I congratulate you on your achievement. You are now offered an opportunity to be part of {COMPANY NAME} Team. We believe that your knowledge, skills and experience would be an ideal fit for our creative team and make a significant contribution to the overall success of the Company.
You will receive your duties everyday via email and I will be online to walk you through your tasks.You will be undergoing a 3 to 5 days online training, via Skype and Cisco Webex, immediately after setting up your mini office. We are starting you with $60 per hour and you will receive your pay weekly via wire transfer, direct deposit or check, depending on which you prefer. Benefits include: Health and Dental Insurance, Employee Wellness and Paid Time Off. You will be enrolled for other benefits after a period of 3 months of working with us.
We are going to be communicating virtually till after 5 days of working with us, subsequently a user and password will be given to you including an up link to the company server and a list of contact phone numbers to various departments will be sent to you including all necessary forms to fill out. Before you start work, you will receive a payment(check) which will be used to set up your mini office by purchasing the office equipment and software needed to start your training and work.
You will be receiving your Employment Offer Letter from HR via email to sign tomorrow. Our aim is for you to start training as soon as possible. You are to forward the following information to enable the secretary to register you.
Your Full Name:
Full Home Address:
Phone number:
Your Email :
We assure you that you will thrive and flourish in our company. If you accept our proposal, it would be a great addition to your experience.
Congratulations!
After serious consideration, I am glad to inform you that due to your level of experience and your working skills, {COMPANY NAME} has decided to hire you as one of our {JOB TITLE}. On behalf of our company, I congratulate you on your achievement. You are now offered an opportunity to be part of {COMPANY NAME}, You will be having a virtual meeting with a representative from the HR department immediately you complete your proper documentation as our newly recruited employee.
We believe that your knowledge, skills and experience would be an ideal fit for our creative team and make a significant contribution to the overall success of the Company.
You will be having a virtual meeting with a representative from the HR department. Immediately you complete your proper documentation as our newly recruited employee to discuss further on your job offer and attend to your questions, You will receive your duties everyday via email and I will be online to walk you through your tasks. You will be undergoing a 5 to 7 days online training, via Skype, immediately after setting up your mini home office.
We are starting you with $45 per hour and you will receive your pay weekly via wire transfer, direct deposit or check, depending on which you prefer. Benefits include: 401(k) matching, Health and Dental Insurance, Employee Wellness and Paid Time Off. You will be enrolled for other benefits after a period of 3 months of working with us.
We are going to be communicating virtually till after 5 days of working with us, subsequently a user and password will be given to you including an up link to the company server and a list of contact phone numbers to various departments will be sent to you including all necessary forms to fill out.
Before you start work, you will receive a payment(check) which will be used to set up your mini office by purchasing the home office equipments and software needed to start your training and work.
You will be receiving your Employment Offer Letter from HR via email to sign Later on today. Our aim is for you to start training as soon as possible.
For confirmation purposes, kindly forward the following information to enable the HR secretary to register you and prepare your offer letter:
Please email the requested information to the IT department above to: {EMAIL}
For clarification and Confirmation purposes, please provide me with the same information you sent to the HR email above. Let me know when that is done so that we can continue with the remainder of the briefing.
Congratulations!
Dear {NAME},
I am pleased to inform you that due to your experience level and working skills, the hiring board has selected you for the next stage of the hiring process for employment as a {JOB TITLE} at {COMPANY NAME}. On behalf of our Company, I congratulate you on your achievement. We now offer you an opportunity to join our {COMPANY NAME} team. We believe your knowledge, skills, and experience would be an ideal fit for our team and contribute to the Company’s overall success.
We will now register you for the next stage of the hiring process. HR will prepare your offer letter as soon as you scale through the next phase of the hiring process, which is the further evaluation of your Resume and background screening. One of our recruiters may call you for an additional interview if the further assessment of your test responses and resume is insufficient for the hiring team to decide.
If you scale through the next stage in the hiring process, you will receive your Employment Offer Letter from HR via email. We will start you with $60 per hour, and you will receive your pay weekly via wire transfer, direct deposit, or check, depending on which you prefer. In addition, this position is eligible for a $5000 sign-on bonus. Benefits include Health and Dental Insurance, Employee Wellness, 401k, and Paid Time Off. After three months of working with us, we will enroll you for other benefits.
Please forward the following information immediately to enable the HR Team to register you for the next stage of the hiring process:
Name:
Address:
Phone number:
Email :
Please email the requested information above to: {EMAIL}.
Furthermore, please provide me with the same information you sent to the HR email above for clarification and confirmation purposes. We assure you that you will thrive and flourish in our Company. If you accept our proposal, it would be a great addition to your experience.
Congratulations!
This is when the red flags start to be very clear. Versions 1 and 2 of the email tell you outright that you’ve been hired and that they will be sending you a check to cover the cost of supplies you’d need for this job. Version 3 is heavily rewritten to hide both of these details, perhaps to trick people who otherwise are more suspicious towards common job scams, though it’s still presumably from the same scam group, as the overall structure of the email is mostly identical.
Red Flags:
- Usually for real job applications, they will always involve some kind of phone or video interview in the process, allowing you to ask questions regarding the company and the culture and the requirements of the job. Version 3 of the email tries to hide this, by instead telling you that you’ve moved on to the next step of the process, but still treats it like you’ve been hired, with congratulatory text and telling you the pay upfront.
- If a company needs to send you supplies or special equipment needed for the job, they will either pay for it themselves or simply send you the equipment upfront instead of sending you a payment or check to cover the costs. These checks are always fake, and while banks have to accept these checks, once they figure out they’re fake, they’ll pull that money from your account, and you can potentially get in big trouble with your bank while all the money you spent on the supplies is gone for good. Versions 1 and 2 state near the end of the emails that they will be sending you a check for the supplies, exposing this red flag, while Version 3 makes no mention of it, but it presumably comes up later in the application process.
By this point I stopped engaging in the application process, feeling that there were a lot of red flags in the process and I didn’t feel comfortable going further. Most forms of this scam continue by having you connect with the company with some chat application, including Google Chats or Telegram, and they’ll usually ask for more personal information including your social, government ID or bank account info, which may or may not be combined with a fake check scam.
It always disappoints me to see these scammers out there preying on desperate people looking for jobs, who get excited when they get a response but gradually get disappointed when they discover they’re just scams. Please stay safe out there and be on the lookout for suspicious job emails.
Cool, I’ve been looking for this one for a long time