How to Avoid Scam Recruiters

​Recently, there has been a rise in scam recruiters contacting potential candidates to get personal information or unpaid work out of innocent people. In this blog, we tell you a story of a scammer that contacted one of Peoplebank’s consultants, and we will lay out all the signs of a scam, including what you can do to check if someone is trustworthy.

Just a couple of weeks ago, one of our very own recruiters was contacted via Telegram for a job from an unknown ‘recruiter’. After our recruiter expressed disinterest, this person kept persisting. So, our consultant followed along with the prompts sensing that something wasn’t quite right…

The first thing she noticed was that this person had not mentioned her by name, which was the first big red flag. When Peoplebank recruiters contact candidates via Telegram or WhatsApp, it is usually after the candidate has missed a call or not responded to an email, and the message will always include the person’s name.

However, the scam recruiter proceeded to provide an EA license number that was correct for the company they were claiming to be from. An EA license number is public information, so any scam recruiter could look this up and use this to make themselves appear more credible. They alsotried to entice by using unrealistic pay and hours, another red flag to look out for, details that are too good to be true.

Our Peoplebank recruiter asked this person for their address. The address given didn’t match the address in which the EA license was registered, another red flag.

Our consultant asked her for their registration number to prove that this ‘recruiter’ was a fake. This is when the scammer blocked her – realising they were not able to complete their scam successfully.

It’s important to note however, that a smart scammer could figure out a real recruiter’s registration number as this is also public information. They could then use this to appear completely credible and gain access to personal information or ‘employ’ you for work you would do remotely but never get paid for.

So, what can you do if you feel like something isn’t right once a so-called recruiter has contacted you via Telegram or WhatsApp?

Firstly, you can ask for the EA license and the personnel registration number. If they provide this, you can check its credibility via this website: https://service2.mom.gov.sg/eadirectory/

If it doesn’t match, then they are fake, or if they can’t give you a personnel registration number, they are fake.

However, if it does check out but you’re still not sure you can ask for a video chat. You can ask to do this to further talk about the role. 

Personnel registration numbers, when searched, will appear with a profile picture of the recruiter. Most scammers will not want to jump on a video call if they know that the photo and their face will not match up. If they do, they might not know that you could identify the real recruiter. Either way, they probably aren’t the real deal if they deny a video call immediately. If they call you and look different, then block them immediately! 

Be careful out there, and remember to look out for the red flags of a scammer.