LinkedIn sees rise in job scams via fake offers, phishing: Report

By Team Newsable  |  First Published May 31, 2023, 1:25 PM IST

 According to the latest reports, fake job offers and phishing scams are on the rise on LinkedIn and half of the businesses (56 per cent) globally experienced at least one LinkedIn scam this year.


Fake job offers and phishing scams are increasing on LinkedIn, and 56% of organisations worldwide reported being the victim of a LinkedIn fraud this year, according to research.  A fake job offer is the most popular scam (48 per cent) and a damaged reputation (48 per cent) was the leading outcome of LinkedIn scams, according to NordLayer, a network security solution for businesses.

According to the research, over half of businesses (45%) are also aware of a fraud on LinkedIn that uses the name of their firm.

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“The primary function of LinkedIn — building a career — introduces one of the most common LinkedIn scams, fake job offers. Fraudsters have an ideal environment for creating a legitimate-looking job posting to collect personal information or money, with 117 job applications submitted per second on the platform," the research claimed.

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LinkedIn phishing is another well-known fraud in which a con artist poses as a reputable business or individual and sends unsolicited emails or messages requesting personal information.

"On the platform, getting a connect invitation is quite usual. Fraudulent actors take advantage of this culture of connections to initiate a discussion and offer a link with harmful information in hopes that LinkedIn users would click on it," it continued.

The research data shows that over one-third of survey respondents were aware of multiple LinkedIn frauds using their organisation name. Interestingly, the least active scam outreach was noticed in small companies and 52 per cent of respondents confirmed that no one in their organisation had such an experience.

The scams fall under two main categories.  One is stalking people or posing as a LinkedIn member. Another is on a corporate level, when people operate under false organisational pretences or pose as an established organisation to gain greater credibility.

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