There has been an increase in criminals taking advantage of unsuspecting job seekers in South Africa, says Lettie-Basani Phume, executive of group human capital at Momentum Metropolitan.<\/p>\n
Phume said that scammers are becoming more sophisticated and convincing. Impersonator profiles mimic well-known or searchable employers pretending that there is a not-to-be-missed investment or a job with high pay and good benefits.<\/p>\n
According to Momentum, fake Facebook and Twitter profiles often include copied photographs and accurate biography details of the person they are impersonating, making the con that much more believable.<\/p>\n
These circumstances have increased in frequency as a result of the vastly competitive job market in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The most recent employment data from Statistics South Africa under the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLES) for the third quarter of 2022\u00a0 indicates that 32.9% of South Africans are unemployed.<\/p>\n
Phume said that recently a group of job seekers from the North West province were promised both an interview and a half-day of training for the cost of transport to offices in Centurion.<\/p>\n
“After paying for transport, people were disappointed when the transport did not arrive, and they found out that neither the interview nor training were real,” said the executive. Once the con was revealed, the criminals discontinued their mobile numbers.<\/p>\n
To best protect yourself from such crimes, Momentum provided the following tips:<\/p>\n