Protect Yourself Against Scams and Fraud

What to look out for Recent fraudulent activity

What to look out for

Opportunities that seem to good to be true, usually are. Be wary of advertisers requesting the following:

• An up front fee (e.g. for 'processing' your application)
• Acceptance of a money transfer where you can retain a portion as "payment"
• Bank or credit card details
• Drivers licence or passport information
• Tax File Number
• Non work-related personal information, such as your appearance, marital status
• SEEK username or password
• Any other personally identifying information

Always check the legitimacy of any ad, email or employer that seems suspicious before you respond. For example, large well known companies usually don't include hotmail or other free email addresses in their ads. If you have any concerns, call the company and verify the ad, don't just assume that just because an ad claims to represent a company that it actually does.

What to do if you suspect an ad or email

If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of a Job ad, Job Seeker Profile notification or email from SEEK:

• Do NOT respond to the ad or email
• Report it to SEEK immediately, providing a link to the ad or a copy of the email
• Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software to protect your computer
• If you have supplied your bank account or credit card details, please contact your financial institution immediately and ask for their advice.
• Be alert for suspicious emails asking for personal details
• Look the company up in the White Pages and call to verify the ad

If you feel you may have been the victim of fraud contact the Australian Federal Police.

Below are details of recently identified fraudulent emails.

Date: 19 October 2011
Details: Fraudulent activity by a third party

We have identified a small number of fictitious job advertisements on www.seek.com.au, which appear to have been posted for the purposes of fraudulent activity by a third party. It seems that the ads have been posted with the intention of illegitimately obtaining Jobseeker Profile details. In some of these instances, SEEK users have been contacted by the third party via their SEEK Profiles in relation to the advertisement.

Affected users have been contacted by SEEK.

SEEK is currently investigating the incident in conjunction with the relevant authorities.

Date: 3 June 2011
Details: SEEK scam on Facebook

An ad has appeared on Facebook indicating that it is posted by SEEK. This ad links to a "phishing" site, designed to collect personal information from people in order to gain access to their bank accounts. The site to avoid is:

http://www.times-inside.com/business1/?t202id=6422&t202kw

Example of the ad:

This ad was not posted by SEEK, and these sites are not part of SEEK

Date: 2 February 2011
Details: More phishing sites

We have become aware of more "phishing" sites, designed to collect personal information from people in order to gain access to their bank accounts. The sites to avoid are:

These sites are not part of SEEK

Date: 25 January 2011
Subject: Great Job! Great Schedule! Awesome Pay!
or
JOB OFFER, PLEASE READ THE CONTENT.

There was an increase in fraudulent e-mails recently offering exceptionally high salaries and luring jobseekers to a fake SEEK web site (http://www.thermaltechusa.com). This "phishing" scam was designed to collect personal information from people in order to gain access to their online bank accounts.
This phishing site is no longer active.

Examples
Date: 21 January 2011
Subject: Great Job! Great Schedule! Awesome Pay!

This e-mail is a phishing scam. The embedded link redirects to a phishing web site.

Date: 21 January 2011
Subject: JOB OFFER, PLEASE READ THE CONTENT. <username>.

This e-mail is a phishing scam. The embedded link redirects to a phishing web site.

Example of phishing site

This is form is not a part of SEEK site - please let us know if you see a form like this on a site claiming to be SEEK.