The text pops up on your phone with seemingly good news: “Hello, my name is Lisa and I am a Recruiter at Movieclips and your resume has been recommended by several online recruitment companies.”
The message goes on to say that the company would like to offer you – without an interview, mind you – a remote position working just a few minutes a day for an insane amount of money. It’s easy to see that it’s a scam, but exactly what kind of scam? What are the scammers after?
Other job scams are more sophisticated and might be harder to detect, especially if you are actively seeking a job, but they appear to have the same objective – stealing personal information or downloading malware.
Crowdstrike recently reported a phishing scam masquerading as Crowdstrike recruiters that asks recipients to download an employment application. Clicking the link, however, downloads malware.
According to the Crowdstrike blog, recipients are directed to a malicious website where they are prompted to download and run a fake application, which serves as a downloader for the cryptominer XMRig.
Get familiar with company where you’re seeking a job
The blog explains in detail how the scam unfolds and what victims will see on their screens. The company said it is issuing the warning to protect job seekers from becoming the victim of a scam.
“Individuals in the recruitment process should verify the authenticity of CrowdStrike communications and avoid downloading unsolicited files,” the company said.
Actually, that’s good advice for people seeking a job at any business or organization. Knowing the process will alert you when the pitch doesn’t match protocols.
“Organizations can reduce the risk of such attacks by educating employees on phishing tactics, monitoring for suspicious network traffic and employing endpoint protection solutions to detect and block malicious activity,” Crowdstrike added.