News

Actions

Identity thieves post bogus jobs, peruse digital resumes for personal information

Posted at 6:10 PM, Oct 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-17 21:45:19-04

By searching for internships, ASU graduate student Lindsey Clinkingbeard has put her digital self out there.

"But with personal information, I try to keep to a minimum what I post," Clinkingbeard said.

Now that resumes are uploaded to databases, scammers are scouring them for your personal information.

After getting your name and address from the resume, they may open credit cards or bank accounts in your name or even access your accounts.

Ryan Naylor from Localwork.com said there are ways to protect those digital details. Most employers today don't even expect to see your address on your resume.

"If you want to put a city and state that's highly accepted," Naylor said. "Or even a zip code, if you want to be a little more specific."

Or scammers may post a fake job to phish for personal information. Naylor said there are some red flags.

  • An immediate response after applying with paperwork to fill out. It may ask you for your social security number to submit a voided check for direct deposit.
  • The company's email address or url is spelled slightly different than what you'd expect.  For example, they may substitute a 'z' for an 's'.
  • The pay range is inflated. For example, the job would typically pay around $40,000, but this position pays $55,000.

Naylor said if you get contacted out of the blue for a job you didn't go after, you need to look closer at the company calling.  

The FTC issued a warning about job search scams. You can read more here.