We know of online recruitment scams which involves fraudsters posing as our representatives to get personal information or steal money.
These fraudsters are contacting people through job sites, social media and other messaging platforms, asking them to share their personal details or pay money in order to apply for a job.
To trick people into thinking this and the job adverts are legitimate, the All Star Funding Solutions name and other public information from our official website is being used. Unfortunately, these are not legitimate.
What to look out for
To help you spot online recruitment scams, look out for:
- Requests for personal information that came from someone you don’t know or don’t trust
- Being asked to pay money as part of the application process (such as a ‘pre-employment screening fee’)
- Offers of employment which seem too good to be true, or too easy to secure
- Messages about jobs you haven’t applied for or didn’t expect
- Unusual benefits relating to a job, such as a salary quoted in a different currency
- Messages which reference coronavirus (COVID-19)
Red Flags to Watch Our For
1. Emails from URLs other than the official company — check carefully
If the website or email URL is different from the company they claim to represent, that’s a big red flag. Scammers will create fake profiles on job posting sites as recruiters or companies. They may purchase similar domain names or change the sender email name and/or signature to impersonate other companies.
It may not be obvious at first glance that an email or web address is from the wrong URL.
If you receive an email from All Star Funding Solutions always verify that it’s coming from our correct URL – @allstarfunding.co.uk. We will never contact you from another email address.
2. Shoddy interviewing — such as a chat-based interview
If the interview process is conducted via an unusual format, such as a chat app, you may be dealing with a scammer. Some scammers will also conduct an interview via phone or Google Hangouts.
Pay attention to the questions they ask and the manner in which they conduct the interview. Professional recruiters will be focused on your skills and experience. A scammer who is after your personal information or money may be more focused on getting you excited about the “job” and collecting your personal information.
3. The recruiter makes an offer too quickly
All Star Funding Solutions will only recruit well-qualified candidates to the right jobs, so we take time to really get to know you. If the interview process is very quick and not very thorough, you should be wary.
4. Poor service / poor communication. Most scammers are not super professional
Vague or poorly written job descriptions, lots of grammar or spelling errors, a website that looks like it was quickly or poorly constructed, incomplete LinkedIn profiles with few or no connections — all of these are signs that it might be a scammer contacting you.
It’s always a good idea to Google the company or person that is contacting you and verify that they’re a real company and that the information they’ve provided is accurate.
5. The “recruiter” requests or sends money
If the recruiter claims to need upfront payment for training, background checks or other costs, it’s almost certainly a scam.
Real recruiters will also never send a check and ask you to cash it and send the money — this is another common scam.
It’s important to know that some more elaborate scams involve making a “job offer” and then collecting your banking information and sensitive personal information (such as Social Security Number) during the fake “onboarding” process.
The scammer may even send you a “paycheck”. Watch out for the other red flags listed above and remember — if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!
What to do if you’re approached
We’re actively working with the relevant authorities to shut down fraudulent email addresses used in these scams. If you’re approached, it’s important you know what to do next.
Please get in touch if you have any doubts about the legitimacy of a job advertised. info@allstarfunding.co.uk or 0161 8211478.
We investigate every report we get and we’ll let you know what you need to do to stay safe.
