Protecting yourself from fake job postings

The most harmful thing during a job search is a fake job posting that looks real. Scammers usually follow the same playbook: they ask for a fee, ask for your bank details or a photo of your ID, or ask for the code sent to your phone. In this article, you'll learn the signs of a fake posting, what company verification on PlayCV means and how to report and block when you're suspicious.

Signs of a fake job posting

Even one of the following is reason enough to stop and think. If several show up together, stop the conversation and report it to the PlayCV team.

A request for money: being asked to pay under the name of an application, file, training, certificate, uniform or registration fee. A real employer won't ask you for money to hire you, and PlayCV doesn't charge job seekers anything.
IBAN, Papara or card details: being asked for your card number, expiration date or PIN with the excuse “we'll deposit your salary”, or being asked to send money to an account or a Papara number. A card number or PIN is never needed to pay a salary.
A photo of your ID: being asked for photos of both sides of your ID card, your driver's license or your passport before any interview has even taken place. These images can be misused to apply for a phone line, an account or a loan in your name.
A verification code: being asked to share a code sent to your phone by SMS or an app's confirmation code. This code lets someone else get into your email, bank or messaging account as you.
An offer too good to be true: a salary far above the market without any questions about experience, high earnings for a few hours a day working from home, or a promise to hire you on the spot without an interview.
Pressure to hurry and keep quiet: time pressure and secrecy like “if you don't pay today, your spot goes to someone else” or “don't tell anyone”, or insisting on moving the conversation to a personal number right away.

İpucu: The PlayCV team will never ask you for your password, verification code or card details. If someone asks for these, don't reply, even if they claim to be writing on behalf of PlayCV.

What does the “Verified company” badge mean?

On PlayCV, a company's page and job postings become visible to everyone only after the PlayCV team verifies the company. Before verification, the team checks the company's tax number, the authorized person who opened the account and its job postings; when necessary, it requests documents such as a tax certificate or a signature circular. A blue verification badge appears next to the name of a verified company. All companies on the Companies page have passed this check.

The badge shows that the company is a real, registered business; it doesn't guarantee that every job posting and every message is accurate. If a complaint is received about a company, the PlayCV team reviews it; a company that breaks the rules is suspended, its page and job postings are taken down and it can't receive new applications.

If a message from a company contains words like payment, IBAN, card or password, PlayCV shows you a warning and makes it easy to report it. Even if you don't see a warning, be careful whenever you notice one of the signs above.

Habits for applying safely

Keep your applications and conversations on PlayCV. Your message history helps the PlayCV team understand the situation when you report something.
Find the company's website and contact details yourself. Don't rely solely on links and phone numbers sent in messages.
Make sure an in-person interview will take place at the company's actual workplace. Be cautious about invitations to interview at a home address or in an isolated place.
Don't share your ID number, full address or bank details in your video CV or profile. Your phone number and email aren't shown to visitors.
If an offer is rushing you, stop and talk to someone you trust. A real employer gives you time to think.

You can find details on what information to share in your video CV and who can see your CV in the article Video CVs and personal data.

Reporting and blocking on PlayCV

When you see a suspicious job posting, company or message, report it to the PlayCV team. The team reviews every report and, if necessary, removes the posting or suspends the company. All you need to do to report is sign in.

Job posting or company: tap the “Report” link on the job posting page or the company page, choose a reason and write a short description.
Message: on the Messages page, use the “Report message” button next to the suspicious message. The report also saves the message text as it was at that moment, so the PlayCV team can see it even if the message is deleted later.
Blocking: with the “Block this company” option in the same conversation, you can stop the company from writing to you again. You can remove the block at any time.

If you've sent money, call your bank right away and report the transaction. If your identity details or a verification code have fallen into someone else's hands, change the password of the affected account immediately and report the situation to the police or the public prosecutor's office.

Summary: what should you do if you're suspicious?

Don't continue a conversation that asks for a fee, IBAN, Papara, card details, a photo of your ID or a verification code.
Check whether there's a verification badge next to the company's name, and verify its contact details yourself.
Report the job posting, company or message on PlayCV; block the company if necessary.
If you've sent money or your information has fallen into someone else's hands, call your bank and notify the authorities.

A safe application starts with a well-prepared video CV. You can learn how to prepare one in the article What is a video CV and why does it work?

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