In India, scams have crossed a certain number in almost every field, and due to a rapid increase in online job search, people are being tricked into scams currently.

Sometimes it becomes very difficult to determine if the job you are applying for is true or fake, as scammers are increasing rapidly with more and more fake positions, appearing on such job search portals.

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Scammers have also become very manipulative these days, which is making it even more difficult to find out whether it is a fake job or a legitimate one.

The main motive behind these scams is to extract hard-earned money from the candidates and disappear. Here are certain ways that will help people to determine, if it’s a fake or a legitimate job offer:

Never pay: If one is applying for a job in some good company, he/she must always remember that they do not ask you to pay money for a vacancy in their company.

There are some people who receive offer letters stating that they have been selected for a particular job, for which they will have to pay a certain amount of money. These are fake job offers and one should not accept them.

Background research is a mandate: Before applying for a job or before going in for an interview, one must make sure he/she does a proper research about the company. One must visit the website of the company and if they don’t find one, then they must consider it as a scam.

Every good company has its own website with all the contact information and with the entire career options posted. Candidates must always compare the website information to the information given to them.

Job details: If the job details are not mentioned in the job posting, try finding out whether the candidates will be paid a commission or if there is a salary.

The candidates must clarify all these details regarding the pay scale, how will they be paid and when will they be paid. If the company doesn’t assure them an hourly rate or salary, then they should drop the idea of applying there.

Interview process: The interview should be formalised and rather than giving a telephonic interview, always believe in a face to face interaction. Scammers also conduct unethical interviews which are really risky.

The candidates must beware if they are asked to give their interview and any instant messenger, the most famous one amongst the scammers in Yahoo messenger.

Use Google: This should be the ultimate source of information. Try searching the company name for all the information, and if it doesn’t give you a name, do not bother applying. Thereafter, they must type “company name scam” to find information about reported scams.

Be extremely careful: If some job posting sounds too good to be legitimate, the candidate must verify it. No good company asks for confidential information.

If one receives a mail after applying for the job asking for the bank credentials, he/she should be sure, that is a scam. Before providing any information, one must make sure that the company is secure by looking at its website and if it is listed by “https://”.

Check the company’s references: Before applying to a company, the candidate must go through their references and previous track record of the company. The candidate must always ask for the references if they’re in doubt whether the company is legitimate or not.One can use LinkedIn to understand the credibility of the company and its employees working there.

There may be identity theft, loss of confidential information, etc, if one falls prey to a scammer. Before applying for any job online, one must do their research properly. Every fake job has some kind of payment involved in it.

One must always stay one step ahead with the tips given above to find a legitimate job. One must be conscious before applying along with a reference check well before hand, so that they do not suffer later due to fraud job offers.

Candidates must always remember to report it to the authorities, if they become a victim of any such job scam.

The writer is director, Spectrum Talent Management