Protect yourself from Scams on LinkedIn

If you haven't encountered scams on LinkedIn, congratulations are in order. This article aims to equip you with the knowledge to safeguard your privacy and prevent falling victim to potential scams, ensuring that you navigate the platform with confidence and discernment. Stay informed and vigilant against false information and deceptive practices.

First of all, it is important to know who the scammers target the most:

• Job seekers
• Those looking to immigrate
• Those trying to expand their network
• Freelancers
• Women

Now, let's dive into the various types of scams that exist on LinkedIn:

• Fake job offers that are too good to be true
• Inheritance fraud
• Easy Immigration to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, or the United States
• Accounts with 10 real followers that say they have over 1 million followers
• Accounts of Princes, Presidents, CEOs, co-founders, and Sheiks that seem fake
• Romance scams
• Viruses and account hacking information

How do you know they are a scam?

Fake job offers that are too good to be true.

Look out for these things to make sure you are not deceived:

• Jobs that say they don't need a lot of experience, and that only the most motivated people are needed.
• Organizations whose profile is missing on LinkedIn, or that don't have a website
• Recruiters that state in their headline they are a recruiter, however, their work experience says something else
• Incomplete recrtuier's profiles
• Recruiters with less than 500 connections on LinkedIn
• Messages from so-called "recruiters" or "HR managers" offering easy money for an easy job.
• Messages that ask for your phone number, age or date of birth, and e-mail address

Inheritance fraud

This was born on Facebook and Instagram and now transitioned to LinkedIn as well. Inheritance fraud is related to messages one receives about a supposing uncle from a distant country who left an inheritance of millions of dollars to a nephew from another country (you). The message sender would usually ask for money to help you with all the "paperwork" so you can get your money quickly.

No money falls off trees.

Easy immigration to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the United States.

If you are planning to immigrate to one of these countries, it is very likely that you saw posts saying "Easy immigration within less than a year, no degree required, comment interested". Well, the reality is that there is no such thing as easy immigration anywhere. This process takes years, and the best thing you can do is to counsel with a trustworthy immigration lawyer in your country, not with some stranger you met on the internet. After you would comment "interested", they will send you this message:

Why you shouldn't send anyone this information?

I speak from painful experience now, as my WhatsApp got hacked, as I have shared my age, e-mail address, and number with someone offering me an easy job. With this information, they hack into your WhatsApp and other Social Media accounts. There, they can find screenshots and pictures of your passports, passwords and log-in information saved, and even card numbers. Be careful.

Accounts with 10 real followers that say they have over 1 million followers

One day I got a connection request from someone "interested" in purchasing my services. The same didn't seem legit, as it said it was an Arabian Sheik, and in the headline, it said he had over 1 million followers. I looked at that account carefully and saw that he had around 10 followers, but the headline was misleading. Well, I fell for it again and connected with him.

Important:

When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, they see your E-mail address.

So, right after connecting with that guy, I got an e-mail saying my Instagram got hacked and they asked me to click on a link to change my password. I found it a little weird, and after doing some research, I learned that I shouldn't click on any links asking me to change my password.

Romance scams

This type of scammers usually target women on LinkedIn, but men are not exempt from this. Scammers target single women, and they do it on all social media platforms, and unfortunately, LinkedIn is among them. That is why, in order to protect yourself from such people, do the following:

• Before you connect with someone, do a quick profile review. If there isn't much information available about this person, ignore the connection request.
• If you still connect with them and start getting messages with their desire to get to know you better, ignore those messages as well, and either report the person or just remove them from your connect list.
• If you get caught up in conversations with such people, make sure not to send any personal information about you, don't share your age, date of birth, phone number and even address. Keep things professional. LinkedIn is a professional network.

Viruses and account hacking information

If you ever get messages from LinkedIn, or accounts saying they are LinkedIn's support, asking you to change your password, or informing you about viruses or account hacks, just ignore those messages. Don't fall for it. LinkedIn never sends personal messages to inform you about your account being hacked, or offering customer support.

The last things to help you protect yourself from scams

• Don't make your phone number visible on LinkedIn
• Don't include your home address
• Don't connect with people that don't have a fully organized profile and less than 500 connections and followers
• Don't respond to "easy proposals". Remember, there are no easy jobs, easy immigration, easy love, or easy money.
• Don't ever share your personal information with anyone: AGE, NUMBER, EMAIL.

If you need help optimizing your LinkedIn, send me a message and I can help you create a winning profile that gets you jobs, clients, and lots of connections.

Good luck and stay safe.

Nina