Google users warned to never type common search term as 40% of people encounter scam that can take everything
CYBERSECURITY experts have warned that a common search term is getting people scammed online.
A new survey shows that around 40 percent of people who searched the phrase or similar came across scams.
The survey was conducted by PasswordManager.com.
Experts found that people searching for a new job online came across fake adverts.
These adverts could steal important information and even money from job seekers.
“Nearly 4 in 10 respondents, all of whom have searched for a job within the last two years, say they’ve encountered job postings that turned out to be a scam,” the researchers wrote.
And, added: ” “When asked which websites they encountered the fake jobs on, the top three answers respondents gave were Craigslist (47%), Indeed (44%), and Facebook Marketplace (44%).”
Retail, healthcare jobs, and the service sectors were the top three industries targetted by scammers.
So if you’re looking for one of these jobs online you need to be extra cautious.
According to the researchers, most of the fake job adverts were offering a salary between $25,000 to $100,000.
Around 60 percent of people who responded to the scams were interviewed by a fake recruiter.
A further 50 percent said the interview happened over email or text.
Daniel Farber Huang, Subject Matter Expert at PasswordManager, advised: “Understandably, a job seeker will want to make their application as attractive as possible and is therefore pressured to provide more information rather than less.
“Until you are formally hired, there are very few reasons to provide a social security number or date of birth.
“If a background check is required where you are asked for that or other sensitive information, use your judgment on when it’s appropriate to share your data.”