The Real Hustle - “The Recruitment Scam”
April 14th, 2008 by James
BBC’s The Real Hustle is a TV show focusing on how easy it is to be scammed and conned in every day life. This week, the team posed as recruitment consultants, highlighting the trust that job seekers are willing to impart during their job search.
The clip is an eye-opener - “identity theft on a grand scale”. In this episode, the girl gives her passport number and bank statements, which allow the hustlers to apply for mortgages, credit cards, duplicate passports, and birth certificates all in her name. She is not alone, as the other job seekers give their details without question, assuming that the recruitment agency is on their side. The staffing industry is very fragmented with the majority of recruitment companies doing less than $2 million in revenue. With so many small, owner-operated agencies, it is difficult to know who you can trust.
What The Real Hustle describes as “a steady stream of job seekers all willing to divulge their personal details” exists on the internet on a scale a million times larger. Due to the lower barrier to entry for online recruitment sites, without the need to rent an office or put on a suit, the online jobs market is even more fragmented and inherently less trustworthy. Even the most “legit” job sites have shown that, even if they do have your best interests in mind, they do not always take the steps necessary to protect your identity.
People often underestimate the value of information, but even something as inconspicuous as a maiden name is sometimes used as a password for banking. In this video, the girl is asked to choose a 4-digit pin number as part of her application, and she uses the same one as on her bank card. This is often the case with the passwords people choose online. Bad practices, such as storing plain-text passwords, are always going to exist; improving awareness is the key for now.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Wow! Great post and amazing video, the scam was so simply done! Great job!