ABU DHABI A Dubai-based cyber security company that cracks down on fake job sites has warned about fraudulent job offers on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.
“These days fraudsters are using bogus LinkedIn profiles, Facebook accounts and professional looking websites to trap unsuspecting job-seekers,” said Sameer, CEO of Managed, which claims to have taken down hundreds of deceptive job websites using a sophisticated crawler software called BrandHawk Alpha assessment system.
Their social media and online threat assement service was recently used to help a government organisation zero in on several fradulent websites.
How it works
Sameer said the software conducts a comprehensive search of the online domain space using various parameters. The system taps into leading search engines and their internal search algorithms to detect sites with even the slightest variation from the original.
The assessment process takes 2-3 weeks and includes a complete audit and archive of all the relevant information about the organisation, management, brand and its employees on social media, online blogs, Darknet and other online platforms.
“We always warn employees against posting promotion letters and other documents with company stamps and signature on Facebook or LinkedIn. Fraudsters comb these sites and misuse these documents to create fake websites or strike investment deals,” said Sameer. According to him, scam artists have implemented excellent search engine optimisation, complete with relevant keywords and content to get top positioning when someone searches for jobs online.
Dubious rankings
“Often they are placed higher in search engine rankings than the actual company. This lends them credibility in the eyes of the job-seeker. In one case, we found 36 fake websites of a single company in the UAE,” he said.
“Some sites were designed using themes and they looked very convincing. They asked the job-seeker to register with their credit card and pay between Dh150 and Dh500 as registration fee. People looking for jobs not only lose money but also end up giving their credit card details to the scammer,” he said.
Once fake websites are identified, we work with the domain hosting companies, ISPs and domain registrars to take them down. “We have a 24/7 monitoring service centre in Dubai. It is a constant cat and mouse game with the bad guys. We have to beat them at their own game,” said Sameer.
