A stagnating global labour market worldwide and a cost-of-living crisis have created a fertile ground for unicorn job scams to proliferate across the globe. This sponsored post looks at what a unicorn job scam is, how to avoid one and what to do if you’ve been caught. 

While completing a Master of Cyber Security online course can teach you all about the nitty-gritty of the scams and cybercrimes running amok across the world today, it’s also important to learn how to protect yourself against them.

With a stagnating global labour market worldwide and a cost-of-living crisis, these factors have created a fertile ground for unicorn job scams to proliferate across the globe.

According to the National Treasury, Australians lose approximately $20 million per year to employment scams. That is not an insignificant figure, and you may have even encountered a job scam yourself, whether on your social media feed, email inboxes, or just magically landing in your text messages. 

Let’s learn about some of the ways we can protect ourselves from unicorn job scams and avoid potentially becoming a part of that staggering statistic. 

What’s a unicorn job scam?

Although the phrase may sound odd, unicorn job scams are becoming increasingly common.

These types of scams use what can only be considered ‘unicorn jobs’ (just as unicorns are mythical, these ‘jobs’, in the same vein, are not real) to lure and rope vulnerable people in before scamming and stealing their money. 

Scammers usually put on a fake identity, whether that is impersonating a recruiter or representative from legitimate or existing companies across various industries, to gain trust from victims.

How exactly do they work?

There is an intricate and systematic strategy that these criminals use to target job seekers. Of course, one of the most common ways to ‘rope’ victims in is to post fake job listings or career opportunities on legitimate job searching websites such as LinkedIn, Indeed and SEEK. 

Perpetrators of unicorn job scams often target those specifically looking for flexible (hybrid), remote or part-time work and attempting to exploit these seekers by promoting what seems to be quick, guaranteed and easy money with little labour required. This can include reviewing products, entering data, liking social media posts, or just unrealistic job offers in general. 

However, there is always a catch with these scams – like requesting personal information such as financial details and copies of IDs, or asking for upfront payments with supposed fees relating to training, equipment or administration. 

Recently, a victim by the name of Ashlie lost an alarming $35,000 to a job scam that promised her an attractive salary by writing fake hotel reviews. The scam progressively asked for more and more deposits to supposedly ‘unlock’ her earnings. The harsh reality? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Who is most vulnerable?

Recent studies have shown that university students and recent graduates are the most vulnerable due to navigating a tough labour market. Other groups include immigrants who are not acquainted with the legitimate employment process or the standard recruitment practices and employment rights as per Australian law. 

In more extreme circumstances, unicorn job scams can be accompanied by international human trafficking, where victims are held hostage with their passports confiscated and are coerced to scam others around the world; a major example has been job scam syndicates in Myanmar and Thailand, which have managed to lure thousands of foreign nationals. 

With the sheer seriousness of these scams, the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) had already issued a global warning regarding these syndicates in 2023 to promote greater intelligence sharing between law enforcement, non-governmental organisations, financial intelligence between and relevant private sector companies across countries to combat this rising menace. 

How to protect yourself from the unicorn

Many states have begun responding to the threat job scams pose to our current era, but there are key strategies that can be taken to ensure you, as an individual job seeker, do not become ensnared by cybercriminals and avoid losing money that could have been used on something more productive. 

Know the signs

If an offer is requesting you to make an upfront payment even before hiring, that is already a red flag, as no actual company does this. Moreover, the professionalism of these hirers can serve as a tell-tale sign if the offer is genuine or not – ask yourself, are they well-spoken and communicating with you professionally? If words are being misspelled and there are elementary grammatical mistakes, then it is most likely a scam. Always research the legitimacy of the job offer by contacting the company’s hiring manager or anyone from it directly, using their official line of communication. 

Stay suspicious of ‘work-from-home’ offers

This is particularly important for any unsolicited ‘work-from-home’ or hybrid opportunities that contact you via social media, email or messages. Work-from-home scams have been deemed as becoming especially common with employment scams in recent years, and are often too good to be true. Usually, these ‘companies’ barely have any information about their values, operations or history online. And occasionally, these offers given through online means usually contain malicious links, so it is important to avoid clicking on them as well. 

Never send money or personal information

You should be especially cautious if an employer is asking you to provide sensitive or personal information right at the beginning of the hiring process. But a good principle to follow is just to never share your information or details with others you have only interacted with online. Sensitive information or documents should only be sent when you have verified that the employer or recruitment firm is genuine and legitimate. 

Trust your instincts

When we feel something is wrong, our instincts are often correct. When you feel something is not right with the job you are being offered to work for, you should reject it immediately. 

What if I’m a victim of a unicorn job scam?

Scams can be difficult to avoid entirely, and there are always factors such as naivety, lack of experience, trustworthiness or limited knowledge of certain schemes that scammers precisely exploit. 

If you think you have fallen for a unicorn job or employment scam, make sure to do the following:

1. Stop all communications with the scammer immediately; if it was through an unsolicited phone message, block the number, and if it was through social media, report it to the platform’s support service. 
2. Report the scam to an institution such as Scamwatch, the Australian Cyber Security Centre or the Australian Federal Police. 
3. Secure any relevant accounts by changing passwords and enabling two-factor authentication, whether that be on your email, banking or social media profiles. 
4. Contact your financial institution if you have already transferred money or have suspected unusual activity. 
5. If you suspect your identity has been compromised, contact the national identity and cyber support, IDCARE, immediately.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.