One of our clients Richard, recently got a job interview invite in his email and he was excited because he has been searching for a job for over 8 months and had applied to so many companies that he had forgotten which ones he sent his CV to. So, the email stated all the details – venue, time, requirements and then, he was asked to receive a phone call from one of the company or organization representatives to get a reservation number.

This sounded strange to Richard, so, he did some research on the company and also searched through his sent items in his email account and realized that he never applied to the company, that was when he realized he was being set up for a scam job interview. Now, if he hadn’t carried out that simple research, he probably would have fallen into the hands of kidnappers, rapists, armed robbers or even ritualists.

As strange as it may sound, many of these criminals realize that a lot of young people these days are looking for jobs, so, they use job interview invites to lure them out to places where they can easily rob or hurt them, so, everyone needs to be careful not to encounter such people.

This is the reason why Lingo Africa, the foremost human capital development platform in Abuja, has decided to give tips on how to properly research companies claiming to invite them for job interviews. Kindly share this article to people in your social circle, who are looking out for jobs, it will help them.

Once an interview invite is received by text, call or email, if the company or organization is not a popular one, here is what you can do;

Do a Google Search – Type the name of the company or organization into Google and see the results. Sometimes, the company or organization may not be recognized by Google and that is okay (not everyone understands how to leverage SEO). If the company or organization is legitimate, you will see some footprint of their social media activity or their events or their official website. There are, however, some exceptions, like some one-man businesses do not have an active website, others do, but it is not updated. However, serious businesses understand the times we are in, so, a legitimate company or organization will have something for you to hold on to. Take Lingo Africa for instance, if you search “human capital development platform Abuja”, on Google, we appear first in a snippet.

As stated earlier, not every company or organization understands SEO, so, you can just type in a direct name to verify that they are who they say they are. Mind you, some scammers also have websites, so, what you can do is to look at the search bar where you typed the company or organization name, if the connection certificate is valid, you will see a padlock displayed. You can click on the padlock and it will tell you if the website certificate is fake or real.

Do a Social Media Search – Check the company or organization name on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Although some might not be listed on all social media networks, still check them, particularly on Facebook, if they are there, check their activity – the last time they posted something and what the page is generally talking about. From this, you will be able to know if the company or organization is a serious one or a scam. Also, you should pay attention to all the details listed on their social media. Is it’s the same information you got in the email?

Ask Around – You have your friends and family, ask them if they have ever come across the company or organization before. Inform them of the interview invite you got. Chances are, one of them has come across the name before – maybe at an event or by reading their blog or seeing their name pop up on social media. You can also use the True Caller app to see the name of the person that pops up after you type in the phone number they leave in the message sent for inquiries. You will know if the person is a scammer. You can even go further and check the person’s name on social media, see what people are saying about the person.

Did They Tell You That Someone Recommended You? – Sometimes, some multilevel businesses like MMM are always calling people to say they were recommended by a friend for a job. The truth is, they want to make you register for their business and convince you that you can bring in a million people and get millions of dollars. They have also started writing “official” interview invites to people. Be careful with them – you will spend your money for nothing. Verify this when you receive calls from them and they tell you to hold on to a reservation number for their high-level meeting. It is not a job offer but a multilevel registration business!

Source - https://lingoafrica.com/company-or-organization-interview-invite-could-be-scam/

Lingo Africa.

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