We're all LinkedIn these days. Busy networking, promoting ourselves, seeking business leads and wondering what's on that post offering $150K jobs. We briefly check out the profile, the pictures look harmless and trustworthy, students from Punjab University Marketing, a 50 Something business woman at a desk, a beautiful model like woman of exotic features who's profile claims anywhere from 500+ connections or as little as 1. The dubious profile content of a sketchy sort, the young student claims a Ph.D. from an online university, the Pakistani Marketing Student with a past history of senior project manager with IBM and on it goes. If you didn't look, you'd be none the wiser. You were hooked by the title of their group post. Generally it has something to do with hundreds of Executive Level positions waiting for your resume, paying between $150K- $500K promising you'll hear back within 72 hours.. but you better hurry!
The fraud profiles I'm talking about are using the desperation of the frustrated jobseeker, particularly those over 50, luring them with fraudulent intent to pick their pockets, steal sensitive personal info, spam for their own get rich quick scheme, sell lists of fake opt-in emails to unsuspecting marketers, infecting computers with malware, fraudulently posing as an entity to gain trust and otherwise mislead, lie, perpetrate fraud for commercial or criminal gain. That is a Con.Read more..
They are found in nearly every group on LI as unemployment is so widespread and backup resources running out. They pose as helpful networkers, recruiting firms or some expert advocate aiming at anyone who would respond to an executive level position because those would be the target market for most biz ops lead buyers or otherwise be people likely to have resources worth infiltrating via malware.. and due to severity of situation least likely to scrutinize , most motivated to jump through hoops in hopes that there's a job on the other side.
If these US positions are available there are legit recruiters out making contact in the industry to locate and generate candidates for them, not doing cattle call resume collections. They don't wait for the candidate to come to them, they go out hunting for the right ones. Hence the term headhunter.
They bring the position to the candidates and work from referrals in the industry. They don't have time to find a needle in a haystack of random resumes, that's a corporate recruiting model. Sure the position will be posted on their site but that's not what they're relying upon at all. If they ever post a position it will have specific criteria to narrow down the right resumes/candidates.& Headhunters hunt, not gather.
Many fake profiles do only have a few connections but recently I've seen some with over 500 connections because of group invites and Open Networking efforts to throw you off. Some have alleged Ph.D's and hail from Ivy Leagues but when you dig around on their company site or their url you'll find them connected to either a non existent company or one based offshore in technology or a scam site and the like.Some of my research took me into a whole labyrinth of twists and turns and multiple fake profiles shilling as students of marketing using photos representing their profile that were identified as models or actresses in India and Pakistan. Others have young collegiate facades, even the senior looking US business person to stave off suspicion. The thing is that they're reading these comments and they make corrections.
I've turned in a few dozen of these profiles and have had LI respond saying they'd take care of it and are concerned about keeping this place at it's professional level of credibility. They just don't have a dedicated team to keep up with it and can't discriminate by country or any single criteria, it takes some time to track. Who are these people and what do they want? Can we trust the site and those seeking addition to our networks any more? What will become of the site as the ratio narrows and the fraudulent marketers outnumber the real profiles. No more sourcing on Linkedin for candidates among recruiters, waste of time to find out they don't exist. Reputation diminishes and LI's value in the marketplace beyond a trash classified site is gone.
Its not only on Linkedin, it's on Facebook, and every other type of social network, posers and friendly looking faces hiding the mastermind, the tech guy using his tricks of the Web to drive panicked readers to their site or blog, each hurriedly rushing to apply to these rare jobs only to find some plagiarized article warning of some over 40 related employment scam or how to avoid it. The page littered with resume services, with coaching, with google ads, and what I've recently learned about malware. What that does to your personal security is up to the unscrupulous black hat marketer who programs it.
I will be exposing profiles that refuse to let up, I'll be breaking out their methods and showing some of their results and fraudulent websites posing as lawyers, doctors and other credentialed professionals to draw in other victims, for purposes yet unknown. I will also report on Linkedin's response to complaints.
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