Protecting candidates from recruitment scams and impersonation
At WRS, we take recruitment fraud seriously. Fraudsters may advertise fake vacancies, impersonate genuine recruiters or companies, or use convincing emails, websites, social media profiles and documents to obtain personal information or money.
Recruitment scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic messages, documents, profiles, images and voice or video communications. A professional-looking message should not, by itself, be treated as proof that the sender is genuine.
This advisory explains some common warning signs and steps you can take to verify that a recruitment approach or job opportunity is genuine. It is intended as guidance and is not exhaustive.
What is Recruitment Fraud?
Recruitment fraud occurs when an individual or organisation falsely presents a job opportunity or impersonates a genuine recruiter or employer, usually to obtain money, personal information, identity documents or access to online accounts.
Fraudsters may use fake job advertisements, websites, email addresses, LinkedIn profiles, messaging applications such as WhatsApp, telephone calls, video calls or documents that appear to come from a legitimate recruitment company.
What WRS will never ask you to do
- Pay WRS a fee for finding you work or securing a job offer.
- Transfer money to an individual recruiter in order to secure an interview, placement or job offer.
- Make a payment to a recruiter for visas, work permits, travel, accommodation, training, equipment or background checks as a condition of securing a role.
- Provide sensitive personal or financial information without a legitimate recruitment, compliance or onboarding reason.
Important: For some international assignments, legitimate third-party costs or processes may apply. Where this is the case, WRS will explain the process clearly and you should verify any request through an established WRS contact before making a payment or providing sensitive information.
Common warning signs
- Unexpected requests for money – Requests to pay for an interview, training, equipment, travel, visas or other services should be treated with caution.
- Requests for sensitive information too early – Be cautious if you are asked immediately for passport or ID numbers, National Insurance or Social Security numbers, bank details, passwords or other sensitive information before the reason for collecting it has been clearly explained to you.
- Impersonation of WRS employees – Fraudsters may use the name, photograph, job title or online profile of a genuine WRS employee or copy WRS branding and documents.
- Suspicious email addresses or domains –Check the sender’s full email address carefully. Fraudsters may use free email services or domains designed to look very similar to a genuine company domain by adding, removing or changing individual characters. All WRS employees use the domain ending @worldwide-rs.com
- Pressure or urgency – Be cautious if you are pressured to act immediately, send documents, provide security codes, make a payment or keep the opportunity confidential.
- Unusual recruitment process – Be cautious if you receive an unexpected offer without meaningful contact with WRS or the hiring organisation, or without going through the recruitment process you were told to expect.
- Poor or inconsistent communication – Spelling mistakes, unusual wording, inconsistent branding or conflicting information can be warning signs. However, sophisticated scams may be extremely well written and professionally presented.
- Unusual communication channels – A message through social media or a messaging app is not automatically fraudulent, but you should independently verify the identity of the person contacting you before sharing sensitive information or taking financial action.
How to check whether a WRS opportunity is genuine
- Research WRS and the advertised opportunity independently rather than relying only on links or contact details supplied in a message.
- Check the sender’s complete email address and domain carefully.
- Check that the recruiter appears to have a genuine professional presence and that the information provided is consistent with WRS.
- Do not assume that a communication is genuine simply because it contains the WRS logo, names a real WRS employee or appears professionally written.
- If you are unsure, stop the conversation and contact WRS independently using contact details published on the official WRS website.
- Do not click suspicious links, open unexpected attachments, provide passwords or onetime security codes, or make payments while you are verifying the communication.
Protecting your personal information
During a genuine recruitment and onboarding process, WRS may need to collect personal information and documentation for legitimate purposes such as identity, right-to-work, compliance, payroll or mobilisation requirements. The timing and information required will depend on the role and location.
Before providing sensitive information, make sure you understand why it is required, who is requesting it and how it should be submitted. If you are uncertain, verify the request independently with WRS.
If you think you have been targeted
- Stop communicating with the suspected fraudster.
- Do not make any further payments or provide additional personal information.
- Do not click further links or open attachments from the suspected sender.
- Contact WRS independently so that we can help verify whether the communication is genuine.
- If you have made a payment, contact your bank or payment provider immediately.
- Change passwords for any accounts that may have been compromised and enable multifactor authentication where available.
- Report the suspicious profile, advert, email or message to the relevant website, social media platform or messaging provider.
- Consider reporting the incident to the appropriate fraud or law enforcement authority in your country.
Contact WRS
If you have received a communication claiming to be from WRS and are unsure whether it is genuine, please contact WRS independently before taking any further action.
Email: info@worldwide-rs.com
Website: Use the official WRS website and its published contact details to verify any communication – Global Energy Recruitment & Workforce Solutions – WRS
Remember: if something about a recruitment approach, job offer or request for information does not feel right, verify it independently before proceeding.
