Now, I know you dopers are too slick to carelessly give a supposed employer all kinds of personal info online, but I thought I’d post a link to the story here just in the interest of security.
I had posted months ago my suspicions that bogus jobs were posted just for the purpose of harvesting some data to sell to telemarketers. I definitely know that since Mr. Pug has been answering online job ads, our telemarketing calls have gone through the roof. Stealing your identity, however, takes it a step further. Be warned!
Yeah, I got that warning in my e-mail today too. I’m not on the lookout for a job anymore, so I don’t have anything outstanding. And I wouldn’t work for companies I don’t know anyway, so I think I’m in the clear.
I don’t have the luxury of only applying to companies I’ve heard of. Were there any recommendations in the email how to avoid this? Off the top of my head I guess a web search of the company would be a good step.
In order to have anything bad happen, you have to violate the obvious “don’ts” of the online world. E.G. they can’t steal your identity without crucial bits of info such as birthdate, social security number, marital status, etc.
So if you simply don’t provide such info you’ll be fine. Note: there’s no reason they should ask for your SSN until such time as you actually go to work for them, and it’s actually illegal for them to ask marital status, birthdate and so forth to avoid age/marital status/sexual orientation/etc-based discrimination.