You definitely know LinkedIn if you’ve ever looked for a job. Yet, have you ever encountered a scammer while you’re at it? Those individuals who haven’t can be considered lucky – the number of online scams on this platform is growing every year, despite it being strictly professional.
Let’s unpack the most popular tactics scammers use and how to protect yourself from the existing threats on the net.
Phishing
Phishing is one of the most used scam tactics, be it on the internet or mobile connection. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it reached LinkedIn, too. Phishing happens when a criminal tries to portray themselves as a well-known and trustworthy representative to steal your personal information.
This type of scammers usually put a link in their message for you to click. While it looks official and presentable from the surface, it’s just the means to download malware or ask for your data. That includes your official credentials, login information, and more.
But there’s one more tactic for LinkedIn users to notice – pretending like your account will be banned, blocked, terminated, or some other scary word. In this situation, phishers pretend to stand as the helping hand that extends to you in your time of need. Of course, that’s not true – the criminal will simply steal your data or money.
Investment Scams
Many investments seem appealing, especially as cryptocurrency is on the rise, threatening to be the new way to exchange money. Sadly, only a small part of brokers are legit. Yet, any internet user needing cash can stumble upon the investment scams on the wide web, be it on social media or outside.
When on LinkedIn, an account new to you or hacked would approach you. Then, they will show off how much they’re making on the latest investments – usually crypto – and hope for you to make just as much. They will be nice enough to share the secret at some point, talking you into trying the platform for investments. People behind the accounts are simply looking for victims.
Too Good To Be True Job Offers
Now, we’re stepping into a more complicated world of scams, which are harder to decode. For example, you wake up one day and receive an amazing job offer from a legitimate company. When their representative explains everything to you, you’re thrilled because that’s the position you were hoping to get despite the lack of experience. With your “open to work badge” on, you are ready to take up a new job!
Then, the representative starts asking for your personal data. They suddenly want to know what your Social Security number is, just in case… That’s where you should stop and question what you see since this is a sign of fraud. In reality, there is no job for you, only a scammer trying to steal your identity. When they’re done, they will vanish like nothing happened.
Random Connection Requests
LinkedIn is known for its “Connections”, as it gives people from everywhere around the world a chance to build their own network and find jobs across the globe. But just like any other social media platform, it’s full of unprofessional people and scammers. And some of those are definitely knocking on your door and asking to build a connection.
These range from phishing scams to malicious job offers that we’ve already covered before. Either way, these connections will not bring anything new to your resume, instead asking for personal data and sending you odd links.
Account Theft
In case you have already fallen victim to data theft or phishing schemes, your account might not be under your control anymore. That means the criminal will make sure to impersonate you and try to contact your connections in hopes of finding more useful information. Additionally, they will try to:
- Steal other accounts if possible;
- Use your account for other malicious plans;
- Break into your bank system and use your money.
Catfishing
“Catfishing is only for dating sites”, you might think. But that’s not true. In fact, catfishing can happen even on professional platforms like LinkedIn. Instead of presenting themselves as an attractive individual, scammers will impersonate other people.
Be they your friends, random strangers, or celebrities, they might ask you for money or pretend like they’re looking for an employee. Scammers will try to move the conversation to another platform or messenger just in case their fraudulent profile gets flagged and removed. As you open up to the person, the scam progresses and lures you in more and more.
How to Protect Yourself
As you can see, there is a ton of terrible scam schemes being active on LinkedIn. So, how do the platform users protect themselves?
First of all, any time you see changes you haven’t done yourself such as new posts, account activity, and messages, change your password right away. Actually, it’s a good practice to change your passwords even when nothing bad happens. It should be a strong one and should include various letters and numbers.
Make your password completely different from the one you’ve used before. If you’re unsure how to, invest in a password manager – this software will do everything for you, including storing your passwords in a safe space, automatically filling them in when needed, and creating strong passcodes for every account you use. It can be a personal one, or it could be the team password manager, covering all your professional environment’s needs. Just make sure sensitive accounts’ details are stored there instead of the browser.
Secondly, look out for positions and proposals that seem too good to be true. While some people get lucky on LinkedIn, it could be a scam. Look at the sender’s profile and their message. Any typos or inaccuracies are a sign of a fraudulent message. Contact the actual company of the representative if you’re unsure.
Also, if you suspect that some of the information you shared isn’t supposed to stay on the internet, it would be smart to remove it. There are ways to remove personal information from Google without spending too much time on this. It helps if cybercriminals try to gather as much information about you as possible before attempting to scam you, and you don’t want that to happen.
Last but not least, never share any personal data upon request, especially if your dialogue moves to another platform or messenger. Do not present any credit information to your potential employer. Don’t fall for crypto or investment proposals.
So, About LinkedIn Scams…
There are a lot of terrible people trying to take advantage of you, even on professional platforms. By reading the info above and applying our advice, you can easily avoid scams and stay safe on LinkedIn.
