Beware of Online Job Scams

Here’s some disturbing news from MSNBC news, Identity Theft scams masquerading as Work at Home Schemes Jobs in order to get a copy of your resume. Why would they need a copy of your resume?, so that they can use your personal information to steal your identity and use it to perform criminal acts.

Identity Theft Crimes can be classifed as: [source]

1. Business/Commercial identity theft (using another’s business name to obtain credit)
2. Criminal identity theft (posing as another when apprehended for a crime)
3. Financial identity theft (using another’s identity to obtain goods and services)
4. Identity cloning (using another’s information to assume his or her identity in daily life)

In the Philippines there are already cases of identity theft crimes used to acquire passports from the DFA as well as to set up internet connections. You might laugh that its just an internet connection, what harm could an illegal internet connection in your name do to you? Well if they committed cyber crimes and the authorities trace the subscription to you, you wouldn’t be laughing.

What are the personal information that can be considered sensitive and shouldn’t be divulged so easily:

1. A copy of your signature
2. Your Complete Name
3. Your Birthday
4. Your Home Address
5. Your phone number
6. Passport No
7. Professional License No

The lesson here is, if you are applying for a job online and unsure about the company, be careful about what information you fork over. If its an online company with offices abroad, all they really need from you are your name and email information.

Also we must always be on the guard as to whom we give our personal information too as well as in the way we dispose of documents that hold our personal information. A simple thing as disposing of a cellphone, electricity bill or bank statement in the trash could allow somebody access to our private information.