Safe Job Hunting
Protect yourself against fraudulent and unsafe job hunting activity
Fraudulent and unsafe activity can occur in the form of:
- Illegal ads that ask for personal or financial information occasionally appear on online job boards.
- Emails can also be sent by people masquerading as advertisers or BrighterMonday, requesting that you supply personal details. This is known as Phishing (pronounced "fishing").
- Making payments to anyone as part of the recruitment process.
- Sender's address - The 'from' address will often be forged to make it look official, so be wary of the 'from' address.
- Generic greetings - BrighterMonday emails will always greet you by your full name. Watch out for emails using generic greetings such as 'Dear job seeker' or 'Dear advertiser'.
- False sense of urgency - Phishing emails usually provoke users into responding immediately by implying a false sense of urgency.
- Poor spelling / grammar - Phishing emails are often written poorly. Be wary of poor spelling and grammar. This is usually a tell-tale sign that the email is not from BrighterMonday.
- Fake links - Be careful when clicking links in an email. In phishing emails they will try to hide the true destination of a link. Before clicking, hover your mouse pointer over the link to see where it goes. Watch out for any subtle differences in the URL and if you are unsure, don't click the link.
- An upfront fee (e.g. For 'processing' your application).
- Acceptance of a money transfer where you can retain a portion as 'payment'.Fees for ‘medical testing’, ‘visa processing’, ‘application processing’ ‘travel expenses’ or any other form of fee.
- Bank, MPesa or credit card details.
- Drivers licence, National ID or passport information.
- Tax for PIN numbers.
- Non work-related personal information, such as your appearance, marital status.
- A BrighterMonday, LinkedIn, Facebook or any other username and password.
- Any other personally identifying information.
- Do NOT respond to the ad or email
- Report it to us immediately, or use the "Report This Ad" button that appears on every ad, or alternatively let us know immediately on https://www.facebook.com/BrighterMondayKenya
- Make sure you have up-to-date anti-virus software to protect your computer.
- If you have supplied your bank account, MPESA or credit card details, please contact your financial institution immediately and ask for their advice.
- Be alert for suspicious emails asking for personal details..
What to look out for
Email (phishing) scams:
Job ads:
Opportunities that seem too good to be true usually are. Be wary of advertisers requesting the following:
BrighterMonday endeavours to ensure that all job ads on our site are for legitimate job opportunities and will remove any ads that are identified to have contravened the sitesTerms and Conditions.
Always check the legitimacy of any ad, email or employer that seems suspicious before you respond.For example, large well-known companies usually do not include Hotmail or other free email addresses in their ads. If you have any concerns, call the company and verify the ad, don't just assume that because the ad claims to represent a company that it actually does.
What to do if you suspect an ad or email to be fraudulent
If you have any concerns over the legitimacy of a job ad, email or job seeker profile from BrighterMonday:
