Mining recruitment scam
During June and July 2012 Consumer Protection has seen an increase in reports of recruitment scams using offers of employment in the WA mining and resource industry.
It appears also to be happening in other places in Australia and New Zealand.
Scammers are using Facebook, online classifieds and fake recruitment websites to get in contact with victims.
Scammers have asked for job seekers to send their resumes and respondents are told they have been selected for the job almost immediately.
Currently there have been no reports of monetary loss and scammers have only been asking for copies of personal documents such as driver’s licences and passports.
The motives for this scam could either be identity theft, advance fee fraud or money laundering.
This may be the start of a surge in this scam tactic as scammers take advantage of the growing number of people trying to secure work in the WA mining and resource industry.
Consumer Protection tips:
Be wary of mining job offers via Facebook and classifieds websites. Have a healthy amount of suspicion.
Do your homework when deciding whether to engage with a recruitment agency e.g. if possible ask people you know for recommendations, carry out a Google search, verify the physical address of the agency.
Why not check with the supposedly associated mining company if they truly have links with that recruitment agency. Remember to use contact details that you obtained independently, not details supplied by the recruitment agent.
Guard your resume like you would any other secure personal information.
Remember in Western Australia employment agents must be licensed and it is illegal to charge employees any fee whatsoever – check with Consumer Protection's online licence search or you can call 1300 30 40 54 or by email consumer@commerce.wa.gov.au.
Report anyone who wants you to pay them to find work for you.
Don’t forget the Federal Government has a resource sector jobs board: www.jobsearch.gov.au/resourcesectorjobs/